You and Me
by Kitty Black Cat
Summary: Kaoru sees his brother leaving his side little by little. When a host event proves how much distance there is between the twins, yet opens a new door, how will Kaoru react to the changing times?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Ouran High School Host Club does not belong to me in any way, shape or form. I mean come on, I barely know any Japanese and my drawings sure as hell wouldn't sell!(though if you look at _Stickin Around_…)

AN: Hi! Here is my first Ouran High school Host club (man, that's a mouthful) fic. Most of the other fics I've been working on (when my muses aren't chilling out somewhere else) are Harry Potter fics, so this is new. And great. OHSHC is like one of the best manga EVER! Anyway, uhm if there's non-canon things and OOC please don't flame me for it. I wouldn't write canon fics even about my own work. Also, I don't flame people, and I try to give meaningful feedback, so if you review(please do. It helps when you're new at writing fanfics) keep that in mind.

**Note**: Also, if you've read my other fics, you'll notice that they were kind of dark (not much, but a little). They were about Ginny not dealing well with the whole chamber thing and they were only narratives from one character's point of view, no interactions with others. This fic does NOT follow that model. It's not really the same type of writing.

**Chap****ter 1**

'*Sigh*… There he is again…talking to Haruhi….maybe I should just go over there and talk with them. She's laughing. Has she ever laughed with me? Of course she has…with me and Hikaru. I don't think I've ever really been all alone with Haruhi. I don't think I've been alone with Hikaru these days either. I swear Hikaru's glued to her. Come on twin dearest, take a shower and take off that damn glue. I'm here too, you know. Right. It would be like talking to a wall. "Kaoru, what are you talking about? I know you're here. We're always with each other!" Right, physically we are, but in any other way it's like I'm in the North Pole while he's chilling out in the Bahamas! Damn it! I shouldn't think like that. This is what I wanted, isn't it? For our world to open up. I just didn't think that opening up would make me feel as though our world was being destroyed instead of getting bigger. *Sigh*'

Kaoru Hitachin was looking out the window again, deep in thought about the current situation with his twin. It's not that he didn't like Haruhi, quite the opposite actually, but it would have been great if his brother noticed him once in a while. Looking out the window to the beautiful sunny day, Kaoru just felt sad…and lonely.

-Hey Kaoru, did you hear what's the next theme for the Host Club? Asked Hikaru

-No, I haven't, but I know milord is the one choosing this time so I don't expect too much.

-Yeah well this time, it's ok I guess. The theme is "Shakespeare's plays" Wonder why we haven't done that before (AN: sorry if they have but I don't have the entire series of manga and I can`t recall if they've done it)

-So basically we have to dress up as Shakespeare characters right?

-Yup…sooooooo…Got any ideas?

- Uhm…well we have to take characters that could have chemistry…

- Duh. Come on Kaoru, you know I haven't read this stuff. The only thing I know about Shakespeare is Romeo and Juliet. Waaaaiiiit…

- Don't even think about it Hikaru. I know how this is going to turn out: me with a dress and a freaking wig! No way! I'm not dressing up as Juliet. I don't care how many times I've dressed as a girl, I'm not doing it.

- Fine, fine! Geez, it was just a suggestion. And I don't get why you won't do it. Like you said, we both have dressed up as girls so many times before.

- Alright then, you do it.

- What? No way!

- Oh so when I'm the one cross-dressing it's fine but when it's you it's not?

- Yeah, that about sums it up.

- Forget it Hikaru. If you want to go as Romeo and Juliet's characters than we can just be Romeo's best friends: Benvolio and Mercutio. I personally don't see them in love but there's potential for a very emotional scene with Mercutio's death.

- Alright then, I'll be the courageous Mercutio and you'll be poor, abandoned Benvolio crying over my dead body. Oh by the way, I'm taking Haruhi back home after school so don't wait for me okay.

And without another word, Hikaru left to talk with Haruhi. 'Poor, abandoned Benvolio indeed' thought Kaoru.

TBC

AN: Hello all! Hope you like it so far. Obviously it's just an introductory chapter (which is very new, because I've only published one-shots and another fic I'm working on has a first chapter that could stand on its own as a oneshot, so it's really the first time I have a true TBC fic) Please review, it's always nice to get feedback.

AN2: For those who love Shakespeare very, VERY much, don't get offended by anything I put in this fic. Except for Othello, it's been a long time since I've read his plays and that was in French. So yes, the pairing of Shakespearian characters may be weird to you (I personally see absolutely nothing between Mercutio and Benvolio. I just used them because I'm making Hikaru ignorant of Shakespeare's work outside of Romeo and Juliet.)

By the way, if you have suggestions about which character Mori and Hunny should be, feel very, very free of telling me.

**P.S**. English is my second language, so if there are mistakes, you can point them out, but please don't treat me like I'm stupid or something. Actually, you should never do that even to first language writers. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses after all. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: (Am I supposed to do that at every chapter?) Anyway, I own nothing. Ouran High School Host Club belongs to other (wonderfully talented) people. I'm just writing a story with their characters that have inspired so many of us.

AN: Hello wonderful reader who will read my first second chapter EVER! I just want to say thank you for coming back and hope you enjoy!

Chap 2

' argh…This is heavy' thought Kaoru as he climbed the stairs to his locker. Today was the Shakespeare hosting day, so Kaoru had to bring the costumes and accessories his brother and him would need. Unfortunately, those accessories included two very old and very heavy swords and since Hikaru was on duty this morning…well he was stuck alone to transport them. ' Great. Now how am I supposed to fit all this in my locker?' To say that this hosting day wasn't planned out well by the twins was nearing an understatement and would become a big one in a couple of hours.

The day was almost finished. There was one class left and then the host club would get ready to do its usual business. Kaoru thought recess would be a good time to discuss hosting strategy with his twin. Normally, they needed very little planning but this time, they weren't going to do their habitual "Brotherly Love" show and it would need more preparation. Alas, Kaoru had much trouble trying to get a hold of his brother and thus the planning was left to the last minute.

" Hikaru hey, we need to talk for a minute. Sorry Haruhi.

-Sure what's wrong little brother.

- Ok first, a couple of minutes later doesn't make me a _little_ brother. Second, we have to get ready for the host club.

- Oh no everything's good. I already have my costume. I brought it with me this morning.

- Uhm..ok. I thought I had brought it but if you want to put another costume it's all good.

- You brought one too? Does it fit Haruhi's dress?

- I don't know. What does it matter?

- Well obviously Macbeth's costume has to match Lady Macbeth's, Kaoru.

-Are you telling me you're going as Macbeth?, asked Kaoru slowly, a slight warning in his tone.

- well yeah…Lady Macbeth can't really stand on her own, she's not that much of an important character… right? And beside if Haruhi isn't Lady Macbeth who will she be? Juliet's the only one left and then she's be stuck hosting with milord!

' Oh and she couldn't be any of the other DOUZENS of female characters Shakespeare invented!' bitterly thought Kaoru

"Anyway, I better go back and review the hosting plan with Haruhi. See you in class!"

Tears started to well up Kaoru's eyes and a feeling of betrayal ached in his chest. 'Why? Why does he do this? He didn't even tell me about it. Obviously he's known he'll be with Haruhi for a while if he only needs to **revise** the plan. So why? He shoots this at me **two **hours before we start hosting!'

- Kaoru, a voice said, interrupting the younger twin's thoughts. Is something the matter?

- Kyoya sempai… Yes there is. I can't come to the club today

-And why not, asked the Ootori with a rather chilling voice

-Because… because…I don't have anyone to host with!

- I wasn't aware Hikary wasn't coming…

- Oh he's coming! As Macbeth! Kaoru said bitterly

The older teen raised an eyebrow at the twin's tone. He had yet to be presented with the source of the problem, but had decided to be patient considering the obviously distraught state of his comrade.

- Hikaru is going as Macbeth to fit with her majesty Lady Haruhi Macbeth and who cares if he had decided before with his twin to go as Benvolio and Mercutio. If Queen Haruhi is going as Lady Macbeth than of course she needs someone to be her husband. What a horrible feat it would be to have her alone!

Kyoya eyes widened slightly as he listened to Kaoru. He would have never expected to hear such an offending tone from the twin if directed towards Haruhi. He had always seemed rather taken with the girl, just as his brother was. However, it was true that he hadn't seen Kaoru with Haruhi much these days…or with Hikaru for that matter. Apparently, there was trouble in 'Brotherly Love' paradise.

- I'm sorry Kyoya sempai. You shouldn't have to hear me go on like that. Especially about Haruhi. Lord knows she doesn't deserve this. Probably doesn't realize something is wrong

- Neither does Hikaru it would seem, but somehow I don't feel he's as blameless as Haruhi

- You're right, he's not. I'm his brother, his twin. He should have more consideration. Bloody hell, he should have told me that he had changed his mind! If he wanted to host with Haruhi so much, we could have just rearrange things and went as Desdemona, Othello and Iago. Come to think of it, it would have been a way better idea than Benvolio/Mercutio. The former has drama but Othello and Iago have so much potential for chemistry, especially if you've seen the movie_ (1)_

- Well nothing to do about it now. I suppose 'Brotherly love' is out of question for the day. We'll just have to find you something else.

- If you're even thinking about suggesting pairing me up with Milord, I swear to God…

- Don't worry. I may be the Shadow King, but even I am not cruel enough to impose Tamaki on you when he's in this state.

- Well at least, someone is happy

- Let me see: Mori and Hunny are going as Romeo and Juliet , Tamaki is…

- Wait what? Milord isn't Romeo?

- No, Hunny chosed the role of Juliet before Tamaki did, although it wasn't for a lack of trying. He actually started to harass Hunny about it but Mori found out and…

- Ouch. Yeah, I would not have wanted to be him in front of a angry Mori-sempai. So who is Tamaki then?

- Hamlet…fitting when you think about it. As for you….perhaps… you could do an act with me I suppose.

- Okay, but as whom? I don't have the time to create a new costume

- Uhm...Do you still have those fairy like costume we used last month.

- Yeah why?

- Have you read Midsummer dream Kaoru?

- Yeah….oh! I see, I'll go as Puck, the mischievous pranker by excellence and Oberon's loyal servant. But... who will you go as?

- As Oberon, of course

- Isn't he married to Titania?

- Yes but they are not exactly faithful to each other, are they?

- True but…

- So nothing would stop him from being seduced by his devious little tease of a servant. And besides, his marriage to Titania makes it even sweeter doesn't it. A forbidden love that they must hide constantly from the fairies who see everything and are always ready to tell their mistress about it.

- Oh my! You're right. This has great potential. I'd love to do Puck. Too bad Hikaru and I didn't think about that either. Can you imagine, two Pucks for the price of one!

'I'd rather not imagine how that would fair, thought Kyoya.' The twins were already bad enough in a context where they're supposed to "behave", he didn't want to imagine what it would be like with them being actually expected to misbehave.

" I'll call home and have the costume sent immediately. Thanks sempai."

The twin seemed to have regained his smile. Hopefully, this whole ordeal would not affect the Club's earnings too much. Botherly Love was, after all, their most popular hosting strategy and it would not do to lose it.

TBC

(1) Here I'm speaking about the 1995 movie with Kenneth Branagh as Iago and Laurence Fishburne as Othello. At the end of Othello, technically you don't know what happens to Iago, but in the movie, he dies and he crawls on the bed, right on top of Othello's legs. My literature teacher said that it was incredibly interesting in terms of the homosocial relationships found in the play and linked it back to a more modern author who analyzed older text to understand homosocial relationships and to highlight how much more prevalent and important they seem compared to relations between men and women.

AN: Thanks for reading! Also thanks to Chibi-Chan for 1: reviewing chapter 1 and 2: the suggestion of making Hunny and Mori , Juliet and Romeo. At first I thought of putting Tamaki as Romeo for obvious reasons, but when I read Chibi-chan suggestion I thought: "That is so perfect! Tamaki plans that hosting to be Romeo to Haruhi's Juliet, but then Hunny takes the role first and screws him over!" Anyway, please Review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything. I'm doing this for fun (and today to distract myself from the horrible ending they give Reid on ATWT)

**AN**: My writer's block(wb) for this story has finally been lifted! I'm so sorry for those who started to read this. I get writer's block quite easily and when I can't write, I really can't. I've written only Lure fics recently (atwt's fandom) but with them killing Reid this coming week, I'm real depressed and couldn't lift my wb on my Lure fics. But by miracle, I was able to write for this fic. I'm really happy about that, and I hope that you guys like this. You'll see it's quite different from the first 2 chapters where it was mostly only talking. This chapter resembles a lot more the organisation of my Lure fics. Hope you like!

**Chapter****3:**

Kaoru waited impatiently for the car to arrive with the costumes he needed. He just wanted this day to be over with already. His stomach was twisting itself painfully and his eyes stung from restraining his tears. The earlier enthusiasm at Kyoya's proposal of a joint hosting had soon dissipated. He was grateful for his sempai's help, but it just wasn't the same without Hikaru. He still couldn't believe that his twin had left him on his own, with no care as to what he was feeling. Sure, he was all too aware of the feelings his brother had for Haruhi, and yes Hikaru had been distant recently…but the host club had been sacred. He had always hosted with Kaoru. Sometimes, it was the only time in the day where Hikaru would truly talk to him and look at him. When they were hosting, Kaoru had the impression that all of his twin's attention was directed at him, just like in old times. It was something to look up for on days where Hikaru was particularly distant. If he didn't have even that…Kaoru shook his head. He needed to rid his head of those negative thoughts. He had hosting to do and with the Shadow King of all people. Lord knows if he didn't host correctly Kyoya wouldn't be happy. And an unhappy Kyoya was really not something Kaoru wanted to see on the best day, so on one of his worst? Yeah, he really needed to pull himself together. 'Think happy thoughts' Kaoru repeated in his head continuously as he went in the changing room to put his costume on. 'Think mischievous thoughts. Robin Bonenfant likes to prank, so you have to get into a pranking mood and fast or Kyoya'll have your hide' he told himself mentally. Ok. He could do this. It didn't matter that his heart was being ripped apart slowly at the moment. It didn't matter that he was furious at his twin. It didn't matter that he wanted to throw things at the wall, scream, and cry. All that mattered was that the host club would start soon and he had a show to give those lovely ladies. Kaoru looked himself in the mirror and put a huge fake smile on his face. It wasn't great; he actually looked like he was grimacing. So he tried again and again, until he just stopped at the ridiculousness of it all. Who was he kidding? He couldn't do this. Kaoru looked around for his clothes, intended on just going home and hoping Kyoya wouldn't have him murdered for this, when a box caught his attention. He remember that box. It had been used in one of their hosting events where the theme was basically 'funny things'. They had all gone to an American-style prank shop and bought items from there for that event. That event had been hilarious. Tamaki was so easy to prank and sure they had been forbidden by Kyoya to use any pranks that could be scary for the ladies but it had still been fun (especially since Kyoya hadn't mentioned anything about not scaring Milord). Kaoru could use a day like this now. It would be a nice distraction. Kaoru wondered if there was anything useful left in that box…uhm maybe he'd stick around after all. It would be hard to improvise with someone who was not his twin. Hikaru and him were instinctively able to know where the other one was going and what the perfect response would be. Without that connection and with no time to form a scenario, the odds were against Kaoru and Kyoya, but even if this turned out to be a complete failure, retrospectively, it would be better than moping at home. He didn't want anyone to see him fall apart, but the host club had always been fun. Kaoru wasn't about to let that change. Whatever his problems with Hikaru were, he wouldn't let them spoil the Host Club for him. He would do his best today. But first he had a few things to set up.

/

The ladies of the Host Club were busily chatting outside of the room while waiting for the Host Club to start. They couldn't wait to get inside and see what had been set up. They had been told by the marvellous Tamaki-san that the theme today was Shakespearian plays. They were very excited about it and were trying to guess what characters each host would be. The consensus was that Tamaki-san would be Romeo but they couldn't agree on who the other host would be. Soon they got to found out as the door of the room opened. The room was completely changed. It had been divided into the four different parts, with a quite different décor. One part was made of a beautiful balcony overlooking an equally beautiful garden. In the middle of the garden were a small fountain and a table with chairs. It was extremely well made. The ladies looked at it in awe. It was the perfect setting for Romeo and Juliet…but where was Romeo? Actually, no one was there. The hosts were no where to be seen. "Where is everyone?" asked one of the girls. Her question remained unanswered. Confused, the princesses decided to explore each setting. There was a luxurious throne room, a royal bedroom and a forest. But before any of them could enter the forest, they heard a voice saying "Romeo, oh my darling Romeo! My one and only love!...Where's my cake?" The girls turned towards the balcony and saw a beautiful young girl with long blond hair and a princess gown. "Romeo? Where are you Romeo?" "Here my Juliet" said a voice from behind the girl. The man standing behind her was about twice her size, wearing elegant clothes and holding a huge piece of cake in his hands.' Mori-San' thought all the ladies at once. And of course Juliet had to be Hunny-san. They couldn't believe they hadn't recognise him at first. They had seen Hunny dressed as a girl before, but this time he had make up on and had change his voice considerably, sounding exactly like a young girl. Quickly, the girls who favoured those two hosts went to great them. They were greated by a smiling Juliet being fed cake by her Romeo all the while sitting in said Romeo's lap. The girls 'awww' in unison. Hunny and Mori were being so adorable! It promised to be an excellent day.

Soon, the other settings where filled as well. In the throne room sat Tamaki holding a cranium in his head and looking absolutely devastated. Quickly, his princesses went to offer him comfort, while some of the others joined Haruhi in the royal bedroom. Haruhi's hands were covered in red for some reason. They sat at the small table in the bedroom and watched Haruhi pacing (or trying to pace) in worry when suddenly one of the twins arrived. "My dear wife. What troubles you so much, my Lady Macbeth?" said the twin. The girls looked up in confusion. If Haruhi was Lady Macbeth and Hikaru (they checked which way the hair was splitting to know which twin it was) was Macbeth, than what was Kaory? They watched each other in confusion yet again. Intrigued, the group decided to split and some girls went in search of Kaoru. The forest was the only décor that no one had been in yet. The girls entered it slowly when suddenly a voice resonated through the setting.

"Well, well, well… What do we have here?" Said a boy with spiked hair and a green attire. He was hiding in the shadow and they could see his face. His voice was mocking them.

" Young, innocent ladies from the village who got lost in the forest. Oh but be careful ladies, you wouldn't want to be bitten by the beasts living here would you? In the dark lie horrible creatures, with poisonous claws and teeth waiting for the opportune moment to… jump you!" Kaoru exclaimed as he set off the firecrackers he had installed.

"AHHHHHHHH!" The girls shrieked. Soon the firecrackers ended and the girls bundled up together. They didn't like how Kaoru was acting. They didn't recognize him at all. He had never tried to scare them. Normally, the host club members were so nice and welcoming with them. And now, one of them was laughing hysterically at their fright.

" This is quite enough Puck!" coldly said a dark figure, wearing a costume similar to Kaoru, but a darker color and with a crown on his head. It was Kyoya. Thank goodness. The girls sighed. They didn't know what to expect from the twin right now but they knew Kyoya would never let him to anything like that again.

" You will not scare those ladies. They are guest of your King and I order you to behave" Kyoya said in a strict voice. The ladies looked at him with curiosity. Both boys were definitely out of character today. Although the firecrackers had been a mean prank, they couldn't help but feel intrigues as to what was going to happen here.

"Oh but my King, behaving is such a boring ordeal." Kaoru whined "Surely, you would not wish for your most loyal servant to lose his entertainment value." He pouted adorably. Hopefully Kyoya would understand that Kaoru had planned other pranks. He was Puck after all and he figured it was a good hosting strategy. He'd prank and Kyoya would scold him and comfort the princesses. It was easier this way. Sure, as Kyoya had mentioned before, Puck and Oberon had the forbidden love appeal to them, but Kyoya had never hosted by faking a relationship and Kaoru had never hosted with anyone but Hikaru. It would be too awkward to play on a romantic link between the two.

"Oh but my dear servant, there are many other ways for you to entertain me that do not require anyone else but yourself. Or have you forgotten the "festivities" of last night?" Kyoya said in a suave voice, sliding a finger across Kaoru's cheek, and earning a bright blush from the younger boy. Kaoru felt his cheek go on fire. Sure he had done things like this with Hikaru a million times since joining Host Club but this was Kyoya Ohtori and although Kaoru knew Kyoya might take this route, he had hoped he wouldn't 'Well fine' Kaoru thought, getting a hold of himself again. 'I can play that game. It's what we had sort of planned after all. I'll just…follow his lead I guess' Kaoru forced down his blush and put a teasing smile on his face.

" Oh no my master, I have not forgotten." Kaoru whispered, while putting his hand on Kyoya's chest. The girls gasped. Never had they heard such seductive tone coming from the younger twin. Had it been Hikaru, they would have been less surprised. The older twin was always the seducer of the two. Yet, here instead of blushing and looking away like he usually did, Kaoru flirted right back. They wondered what was going on. Why the sudden change? And why was Kaoru with Kyoya and Hikaru with Haruhi? Did they have a fight? The girls figured they should just enjoy the show for now and get to the bottom of this later on. Kaoru's seductive attitude towards Kyoya was kind of hot after all. Suddenly, they saw the Shadow King grab Kaoru's wrists and forced them to his side, pushing the twin away. Kaoru pouted.

"Do not use such familiarity with me Puck. Who knows who is hidden behind those seemingly innocent ladies. Perhaps a spy for my wife Titania. It would not do well to be seen." He scolded Kaoru. Kaoru pouted even more and cross his hands on his chest, pretending to sulk.

" Hello ladies." Kyoya said in a pleasant voice that reminded them of the usual Kyoya. "My name is Oberon, King of all fairies. It's a pleasure to meet you. Please forgive my servant's atrocious manners. I assure you he means no real harm by it. If you would please follow me" He added guiding them to the table where they would be hosting. Kaoru followed suit and sat beside Kyoya but did not start any conversation. He decided to play the part of the sulking abandoned lover; he had experience at feeling abandoned after all. Plus, well…Hikaru was normally the one directing the conversations. It felt odd to try to initiate something especially since he didn't really know how the sempai would react. It was hard to know with him; he rarely let his expression indicate how he felt. Soon, Kaoru started to be bored and looked at the other hosts. Hunny was now on the balcony talking to Mori ( who was as tall as the balcony) and then lended a kiss on the taller man's cheek, making one of the girl faint from squeeing too much. Kaoru smiled at that. It was obvious that Hunny had decided to be fully dedicated to his role of Juliet and had planned all sorts of romantic and cute actions to do with Mori. He wondered if the older boy knew what the smaller one had planned or if he was just going with it as it came. Tamaki…well Tamaki was being Tamaki. Dramatic and charming like always. Hikaru and Haruhi…Kaoru couldn't look at them more than a few seconds.

"Puck, fetch the tea and food for the young ladies" The older boy said, startling his companion from his thoughts. Kaoru had been completely silent and while he was more than capable of hosting by himself, some of these girls were Kaoru's fans, not his, and were looking at him in worry. "Puck, do not make me repeat myself. Fetch what I asked you to." Kaoru looked at him, with a look of annoyance on his face. "Yes of course my King" he said with a smirk. He had decided against using it, but since Kyoya wanted food and drinks…and beside Kaoru was getting bored.

Soon he came back with what the older boy had asked him. Well, not exactly. Kyoya had prepared the food and drinks himself and had put them in a platter that was very different from the one Kaoru had just brought. What had the twin planned? He didn't have to wait long to find out. The girls started drinking their tea at once and soon most of them had spit it out. Some were even coughing. Kaoru laughed a little. Their faces! They were so funny! He had either put vinegar, a lot of salt, a lot of sugar, or colorant in the teas. The ones with the colorant had green lips and tongue! It was pretty funny.

"Puck!" said an angry Oberon. Oh yeah Kyoya was angry.

"I'm so sorry my Lord. Ladies, it seems that I took what I had reserved for My Lady's fairies instead of what My Lord had prepared for you. Sorry for the disturbance, I will be back with the good drinks and food immediately" Kaoru said, giving them an apologetic look and an innocent smile. Kaoru picked up the platter again and left with a tiny smile on his face. When he came back, things went back as they were and he became bored again. He had other ideas for pranks but he knew better than to try them; Kyoya would not take them well at all and he really would rather not anger the older man.

Therefore, Kaoru decided to act on the scenario Kyoya had started earlier and brought his chair closer to his companion, putting his head on the other's shoulder. He was nicely pushed away though. Kaoru frowned. He had given Kyoya an out, not forcing him to play on a romantic relationship between the characters, but Kyoya had chosen to do it and now he was refusing to do so? Kaoru tried again. He received the same result. The girls used to being entertain by the twins had stopped talking and were looking at him with interest. 'Well, I'd hate to disappoint' thought Kaoru. He got up slowly and went behind Kyoya's chair. Slowly, he started massaging the other boy's shoulders' and neck. Kyoya was about to tell him to stop when one of the girls squeaked, distracting him. The girls were all blushing madly. And when Kaoru descended his hands on Kyoya's chest, the reactions intensified. Kyoya however decided to stop it there. It was unnecessary for things to go further than this and the invasion of his personal place without his prior authorization bugged him. Rougher than he had intended, he took the twin's hands away and pushed him back into his chair. The girls looked at him in shock. They had been enjoying the show. Trying to stay in character, Kyoya said "I told you Puck. It is too dangerous. Titania has spies and could know" He thought that would conclude it but the twin wasn't about to let boredom take over again. It just made him think thoughts he'd rather not have.

"Who cares? Said Kaoru a little harshly getting up"Let her know! You are mine! If she deserved you, you wouldn't spend your nights with me."

Kyoya grabbed Kaoru's wrists, put them behind his back and pushed him down on his knees in a matter of seconds. Kaoru was shocked. He had not seen that one coming, but Kyoya had been rather gentle; he had not hurt Kaoru while doing it.

" Do not forget who is the master here!" Oberon said firmly

" Oh no master, I don't forget, I swear." Kaoru said taking a submissive tone. "But please, please master, I need….please…something, anything. I can't stand to be so close and so far away. Please" he begged while sporting tears in his eyes. Some of the girls looked at Kaoru with tears of their own.

" I just can't be away from you… I can't not touch you." Some girls had their hand on their mouth and was watching the display with sympathy for the younger twin. "Oh yes please" one of the girls said. "Please he's so sad. He just wants to put his head on your shoulders, right?"

"That's right My King" Kaoru pleaded "I just need to be close"

Kyoya sighed "Have I really neglected you so bad, my dear Puck. Have I been such a bad master, neglecting my servant's needs?" Kyoya released Kaoru and put his hand on his cheek.

"Oh master" whispered Kaoru as he jumped into his sempai's arm.

Kyoya flinched at the surprise hug, but soon lightly returned it.

" Come servant, let us sit and entertain our guests" The older one said sitting back in his chair, bringing Kaoru down with him, sitting him on his lap. Kaoru blushed in surprise. He had expected to be allowed to lean towards Kyoya to keep up the charade of their characters but he hadn't expected to actually sit on his hosting partner. Kaoru felt a little embarrassed. The princesses however were squeeing, and blushing and whispering amongst themselves about how cute they were together, in a similar fashion to what they did when they watched the twins doing their 'Brotherly Love' act. So Kaoru figured that this was for the best and settled down comfortably on his sempai's lap, participating in the conversation. When the girls were calm again, Kaoru made a promiscuous comment to Kyoya about how he would entertain his master tonight and landed a soft kiss on the older boy's neck. The reactions were immediate. Screaming and fainting. They continued like this, making tiny gestures towards each other, like Kyoya stroking his hair, to make the girls squee a little between the conversation and eating. All in all, it was a good hosting day. Their clients left satisfied, although still confused about what was going on between the twins. It didn't take a long of time for the girls to question Renge about what was going on. Where the twins fighting? Was it just for today's hosting or would the pairing remain as it was today? And the most asked question "Are Kyoya-san and Kaoru-san together now?" Some of the girls answered that no of course they weren't dating. But the others talked about how Koaru had stayed on Kyoya for the majority of the time and how they kept touching each other a little during the hosting. It suggested intimacy. The girls couldn't agree with each other on the matter that was Kyora/Kaoru and Renge took good notes of how interested all the girls, even those who don't normally have the twins or Kyoya as host, were in the matter. There was some potential there. She'd only have to convince Kyoya of it too. Her job was just never over.

/

AN: Hope you enjoyed this! I don't know when chapter 4 will be ready but I'm sure it won't take close to 9 months this time. I can't garantee regular update though 'cause I start university again this week and I still have my Lure fics too, plus I'm cursed with a writer's block that keeps coming back over and over again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **Don't own anything about OHSHC. I'm just a fan, writing a fanfic to the best of her capabilities.

**Chapter 4: **

Kaoru was exhausted. The settings for the day's hosting might have been well made and beautiful but it took a long time to take them down and clean everything up. Everyone seemed tired by this point (except for Kyoya, but then again you could never tell with him…until he fell asleep. Then you knew he was tired.) However, things were worse for Kaoru. He had approached Hikaru as soon as all their clients had left but his twin had barely said a sentence to him. Hunny-sempai had noticed he seemed upset and asked if there had been a problem with Kyoya, but the twin immediately told him that things had surprisingly gone great with the Shadow King. "Then it's Hikaru, isn't it Kaoru?" Hunny said in a sad voice. Kaoru had nodded but he didn't answer verbally. He didn't want to talk about it and Hunny sensed that. He changed the subject and made sure to include Kaoru in his discussion with Mori. Kaoru felt grateful towards his sempai of course, but he wished Hunny hadn't been the one to notice something was wrong. He wished Hikaru had noticed.

He was actually a little surprised that Hikaru hadn't even teased him about hosting with the Shadow King. He supposed that once they were home, away from the distraction that was Haruhi, Hikaru would tease him about it. Unfortunately, as it often occurred these days, he had supposed wrong. Once they were at home, Hikaru kept talking about what Haruhi had done during the hosting and how cute it was or about what he had done and how Haruhi had reacted to it. Kaoru frowned. He was happy that Hikaru had enjoyed himself but didn't Hikaru realise that he did at the expense of his twin? That he had abandoned him at the last minute? Apparently he didn't. Kaoru felt an all too familiar pain grip his heart tightly and a wave of nausea submerged him. Tears started to come to his eyes. He had felt his twin leaving his side for quite some time now but this was something else. It wasn't only Hikaru not spending time with him; it was Hikaru having such a complete disregard of him. Hikaru had been distant but although Hikaru didn't take care of him, he had care **for** him. But now…Hikaru hadn't even wondered about the consequences of his actions on Kaoru. This was so wrong. Before Haruhi, the twins had always been conscious of each other. They would instantly know when something was wrong with the other. They didn't even need to talk. Now, Kaoru felt that even talking might not be enough and tonight, Kaoru really didn't want to find whether that belief was right or not. He had no energy left for a confrontation with his brother and the entire day had left him so emotionally raw that he truly believed he couldn't handle another blow…not without falling apart. Sleep didn't come easily to him that night, although his body screamed loudly for it. His mind just couldn't find peace. When he finally fell into slumber, he was clinging to the desperate hope that tomorrow would make things better.

Luck however had seemed to leave the youngest of the Hitachiins twins. First, he woke up for school late. Second, after running around looking for clothes, dressing in a hurry and eating an apple since he didn't have the time for a real breakfast, he found out that his darling older brother had already left to pick up a certain and had not wished to wake up his brother who had seemed tired the night before. While Kaoru's heart warmed a little at the idea that Hikaru had actually notice something about him, he was also greatly annoyed that his twin hadn't thought about the consequences of leaving him behind to be late for school could have. Their parents were gone with their cars and the spare limo was in the auto shop as Hikaru should have well known, so he had basically left the younger twin with no way to get to school! Kaoru pinched the bridge of his nose. He had a really bad feeling in his gut; he just knew that this wouldn't be a good day. Swallowing down his annoyance with being left behind yet again and concentrating of the thoughtfulness Hikaru had had of letting him sleep, Kaoru called Hunny hoping his sempai hadn't finish his morning training and could give him a lift. Thankfully, Hunny exuded good luck as much as cheerfulness and seemed to share it with everyone around him. Kaoru honestly couldn't recall a single negative thing that had happened while in Hunny's presence and this case wasn't any different. His friend had luckily felt like he should train 10 minutes more than normal today, which made Kaoru's call happen right as he was leaving his home. Kaoru thought that at least something was going right today and that his earlier impression might be wrong after all. At least, he hoped so.

When Hunny arrived, Kaoru had barely had the time to enter the limousine before a pink rabbit plush was pushed into his hands. " Bun-Bun was missing your company" said the sempai softly. Kaoru took the toy and hold it tightly in his arm. He knew what Hunny was doing; he was offering the kind of comfort Kaoru could accept. Sometimes, talking helped, but other times, it was the last thing Kaoru wanted or needed. Bun-Bun had more than once been used as a silent comforting companion to try and cheer Kaoru up. Hunny sempai was a sweet guy. Absolutely terrifying when angry or tired, but generally he was sweeter than the cakes he ate. He had a heart of gold, which meant that his empathic abilities were to the maximum level. It was hard to hide your pain from Hunny sempai. He was very observant. Much like Mori-sempai was…well according to Hunny. Mori was very nice and welcoming towards Kaoru, but the twin wasn't close to the older man. He was the silent type and although Kaoru loved silence at times, Kaoru found it difficult to form a bound with someone who barely says anything. He was a hard person to get to know…well unless you're as perceptive and comprehensive as Hunny that is. But Kaoru still liked Mori and had high respect for the older boy. He was just much closer to Hunny that's all. The smaller boy was a ray of sunshine. He could cheer you up like no other or simply sit back and listen while you rant your feelings out. Kaoru had been doing so many times in the last few months. It had almost become a tradition of sorts. Kaoru would go to Hunny's place, they would eat in silence at first, then Kaoru would start tearing up and babbling his feelings out which would make Hunny give him Bun-Bun to hug and then the sempai would offer his advice or simply comfort the younger boy. Kaoru was eternally grateful for Hunny's presence in his life. With Hikaru pulling away, Kaoru had been left in a dreadful state. He was still suffering from what was going on with his brother, but at least now he had some sort of support. More than he had previously thought apparently, if Kyoya suggesting they hot together was anything to go by. Not that Kaoru could see himself developing a true friendship with the Shadow King but still…..

"I brought you some maple syrup candies. I know how much you like them" Hunny said.

Oh yeah….comfort food. His sempai knew he wasn't in a good state this morning. Kaoru sighed.

"Hikary has talked about nothing else but Haruhi all evening long yesterday night. It wasn't that I wasn't happy things had gone so well with Haruhi but…"

"But you'd wish Hikaru had asked how things went with Kyoya. Maybe even gotten worried or angry over it" Hunny completed.

"Yes! You know what Hikaru thinks or at least likes to pretend he thinks about the Shadow King. Yet, nothing! No comment, no teasing…no "Kaoru, why didn't you tell me you were hosting with the Shadow King?""

"You didn't tell him?" asked Hunny surprised. It wasn't like the youngest twin to hide things from his older counterpart. He normally told Hikaru everything, even when he felt his twin wasn't even listening to him.

"There was no time! Hikaru told me he wasn't doing Benvolio and Mercutio with me two hours before the host club started. Kyoya and I barely had the time to fix our costumes and setting before the club started."

"Wait…you mean you didn't know Hika-chan was doing his hosting with Haru-chan?" Hunny asked frowning. His eyes went hard. That wasn't nice of Hika-chan at all. That was downright disrespectful of his twin. "What are you going to do about it? Will you confront your brother about his behaviour?"

"Should I? Will it really serve any purpose? Things are already bad enough; I don't want them to get even worst."

"Yes but you can't continue going like this forever Kao-chan. You're miserable. At least if you told Hikaru about what he's doing, it'll allow him to make things right by you"

"But shouldn't he do that without me having to tell him to? Shouldn't he realise it by himself? It wouldn't be the same if he cared for me only because I made him"

"It wouldn't be making him care…he does care. He just…he just doesn't really act upon it I guess." Hunny finished in a sad sigh. "I think you should try to bring it up. It's your choice how explicit you want to be, although I'd like to remind you that Hika-chan, much like Tama-chan, tend to remain oblivious to subtleties." Kaoru nodded at his sensei's words and took a maple candy in his mouth. If he was going to have that conversation with his brother, he needed all the cheering up he could get.

/

It took until lunch time that day before Kaoru was presented with the opportunity to speak to his twin alone. He found his at his locker, looking for something in the horrible mess he had made of said locker.

"Hey Hikaru" said Kaoru, putting on a fake smile and mentally motivating himself for what could be a very difficult discussion.

"Oh hey Kaoru. Sorry for not waiting for you this morning. But Haruhi needed someone to come pick her up. Besides you were tired yesterday so sleeping longer must have done you some good." Kaoru gave him a real smile at that. It was thoughtful of his twin " Oh and talking about yesterday, I forgot to ask: How was your hosting?" 'Finally' Kaoru thought. 'I knew you had to care Hikaru. You dislike Kyoya quite a bit after all; even if you wanted to be nice to me, you couldn't help a little comment about the whole thing. It's such a relief that you wondered if things went well for me. It sounds like so long since you've asked me this kind of questions'

"It was good…" Kaoru started.

"Oh good!" Hikaru interrupted him. "I was a little worried. You had never hosted all alone before, so…" Hikaru had worried. Well that was sweet…except that it wasn't really. What did he mean alone?

"I hosted all alone yesterday?" Kaoru asked

"Yeah, I know, I hope you didn't mind Kaoru" Hikaru said, missing the interrogation in his twin's tone. "Haruhi asked me if it had bothered you that I hosted with her and she told me to check that the hosting went well for you." Kaoru felt his stomach drop to his feet. Hikaru asked about his hosting because of Haruhi? He cared because Haruhi told him to. Kaoru was going to be sick.

"**She** asked you to check how my hosting went?" Kaoru asked, getting angrier by the second. His hands were shaking badly and his eyes hurt from refraining tears form falling out of them. How could Hikaru not know he had hosted with Kyoya? That meant he hadn't looked even once in his twin direction during the entire hosting time. And he hadn't even cared that the hosting might have gone badly; he didn't care to know whether he had hurt his twin's feelings or not.

"Well yeah. Why? Kaoru what's wrong? You seem upset" Hikaru remarked, confused as to what was causing his brother to react weirdly.

"I seem upset? " Kaoru asked, his voice breaking. A lump had formed in the back of his throat "Yes, Hikaru I do seem upset don't I? It's because I am upset. You left me…"

"Oh what is he doing?" Hikaru asked. He wasn't looking at his twin anymore. He was looking behind Kaoru where Tamaki seemed to be bothering Haruhi about one of his ideas or another. "That guy, I swear. Sorry Kaoru, I need to go help Haruhi get rid of Milord. You know how he gets. But we'll talk later at home promise. Oh Milord!" Hikaru screamed at the older boy as he was walking towards Haruhi and him.

Kaoru closed his twin's locker door slowly, in complete shock. He couldn't process what had just happened. The world had stopped making sense. Kaoru couldn't hear anything other than the pounding of his own heart. He hadn't known what the end of the world meant; now he did. Everything was spinning around him and his chest felt like an elephant was sitting on it. Tears started falling down his cheek quietly. He needed to get out of here. He needed to be far away from Hikaru and Tamaki's argument. The host room was a logical explanation. Going outside would mean meeting people and he didn't want anyone to see him. And going to the roof….in his state of mind he didn't trust himself to be on a roof. Plus quite a few girls liked to eat lunch there and he really couldn't see any of his clients at the moment. Kyoya would kill him for telling them to f-off. His breathing was accelerating; he was now panting. The excruciating pain that enveloped his body was like no other. His body began to tremble as it was wrecked by hard sobs. Kaoru broke down. On the floor of the host club's room, his knees crumbled beneath him as his heart did beneath the pain. Hikaru and him at always been joined at the hip; today someone had grabbed his twin and tore him apart from Kaoru, ripping through Kaoru's flesh and soul at the same time.

The sobs were uncontrollable; Kaoru's chest and back physically hurt from their intensity. His being filled with the most intense agony. It was over. Whatever special connection Hikaru and he had had was officially over. If there was one thing the twins didn't accept, it was their brother being upset; especially if said bother was upset at his twin. They had always worked things out; they had always cheered each other up. They had always cared. Kaoru had noticed Hikaru leaving his side, but today he understood it was much more. He understood that he had lost Hikaru. His Hikaru, his brother who was always there for him and cared more about him than anyone else….his Hikaru who felt for him like Kaoru felt for Hikaru…that Hikaru was gone. He was well and truly gone. And that realisation was killing Kaoru inside. Kaoru curled into a ball on the floor, hugging his own knees in a vain attempt to gain a bit of comfort. The world was over. His world was over. And Kaoru had no idea how to deal with it. He did not know what to do anymore. Who was he without Hikaru? What would he do? He wanted the pain to stop. He wanted everything to just stop. Please let the world stop. This huge hole in Kaoru was unbearable and he wanted to stop. Suddenly, Kaoru felt strong arms lift him up the ground and he found himself crying on someone's shoulder, sitting on their lap as the other person softly stroked Kaoru's hair in a comforting gesture. He couldn't see who it was and his nose couldn't smell anything at the moment, but he knew…he knew without a doubt and it killed him to know it too….he knew that whoever it was, it couldn't be Hikaru. And with that heartbreaking thought, his sobs doubled.

TBC

**AN: **Hey everyone! Hoped you like it! It's not as long as the last one I know, but I just felt the need to end it here. And at least it's an update! And not 9 months later either! It seems my muse is on a roll. I've updated my two Lure fics too! I'll try to update more regularily for this too. Once a week or once every two weeks (though I'm aiming for once a week for every fic…so 3 updates per week for me…so you see why I put once every 2 weeks in case. With University, this might be a little too much for me, but we'll see. And heck, it can't be worst than last time with the 9 months wait on chapter 3!)


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own this wonderful manga….which is really sad for all Kyo/Kao fan out there because I would have totally made them canon.**

**AN: **Here is your update! Sorry about not being a weekly one, I won't be able to post on a weekly basis, on a every two weeks basis is much more realistic and this way if you get an update before 2 weeks it's be a nice surprise and if you don't it'll just be what was expected. Also, I'm Canadian and this is the second Monday of October, so **HAPPY THANKSGIVINGS!** And I'm giving **THANKS t**o all my readers and all my reviewers out there! You make me very, very happy with your reviews!

**Chapter 5: **

The first thing Kaoru became aware of was that he was comfortably lying down and warm. Once his thought processes activated, he realised it meant that he wasn't on the floor and that there was a blanket on him. What had happened? Kaoru's heart clenched. Oh yes….he remembered what happened now, but how had he found himself in this position?

"Ah, you're awake I see" a voice said to Kaoru's right.

"Kyoya-sempai!" Kaoru screamed opening his eyes and sitting up. The youngest twin found himself blushing. So it was Kyoya who had found him crying on the floor and who had consoled him until he had finally fell asleep on his lap from emotional exhaustion. How embarrassing…of all people….couldn't it have been Hunny? Or Mori? Or even Tamaki? No wait….not Tamaki. The thought alone made Kaoru shudder. But Hunny or Mori?

"Here" Kyoya said, thrusting a pill and a glass of water in Kaoru's direction. "For the headache"

Now that he mentioned it, Kaoru did feel a headache coming up. After all that crying it was only normal, he supposed. Still, it was thoughtful of Kyoya to give him headache medication without Kaoru having to ask for it. It was simple caring gestures like this that Kaoru had been dreadfully missing from his twin. At the thought of his brother, Koaru's eyes filled with tears once again.

"You know I may not seem approachable, and I admit I often prefer it like that, but if needed, I can be a good listener."

"Why? Because my being upset isn't profitable for the club?" Kaoru asks somewhat bitterly. As soon as the words left his mouth he flinched. He didn't mean what he just said. Just like Hunny, Kaoru thought that there was something more beneath Kyoya's hard mask. He believed he didn't do everything for profit. But he also believed Kyoya tried hard to convince himself and others he did everything only for profit.

"If you say so" Kyoya answered coldly. Kaoru looked at him with sad eyes.

"I'm sorry sempai. I don't really think that. I was just…lashing out on the closest thing to me since I'm unable to lash out at the person causing all this"

"Hikaru" Kyoya stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes, Hikaru" Kaoru whispered, his voice breaking. A sob escaped his lips once again."It just…it's over Kyoya-sempai. What I had with my twin, it's well and truly over. I've lost him. I've lost him for good. The one person I could always depend on….he…." Kaoru's speech was disjointed by sobs. It was hard for Kyoya to understand what Kaoru was saying, but he didn't really need to. He had notices how detached Hikaru had been recently. He had noticed how he didn't seem to wonder about his twin anymore, like he didn't seem to care. It seemed that whatever had happened today had finally broken something in Kaoru. The youngest of the Hitachiin twins had given up.

"Kaoru" Kyoya tried. He really wasn't used to the whole comforting thing. "Perhaps it is not as awful as it seems…"

"**He didn't care sempai**!" screamed Kaoru. "He was right in front of me and he saw that I was upset at him and HE. DIDN'T. CARE!" Kaoru sobbed again. He took a few moments to calm himself down and looked at his sempai with desperate eyes. He needed…he needed someone. But could he? With Kyoya? Then Kaoru remembered how he had spent most of yesterday's hosting in the older boy's lap and how Kyoya had taken him in his arms while he was a sobbing mess. Oh what the heck. They had already been there, done that after all. Kaoru slowly leaned towards his sempai, giving the other the time to push him away. Finally, Kaoru put his head on his friend's shoulder as the other boy's arm went around Kaoru's shoulder. At seeing his sempai acceptance of the gesture, Kaoru shifted closer, plastering his side to Kyoya's and putting his arm around the older boy's waist. Kyoya started stroking his hair has he had done before, giving the young twin enough comfort and strength to continue talking.

"He'd always cared before. That's how Hikaru and I were. We were people who cared about the other more than anything else. And yes I get that we needed to open our world. It was a hard thing to do because it meant we couldn't be constantly with each other anymore and it hurt but we did it. The only difference is I didn't stop paying attention to Hikaru when I started being good friends with Hunny. And sure I'm not in love with Hunny like Hikaru is with Haruhi but…" Kaoru trailed off. He didn't know how to finish that thought. He just didn't think that romantic love excused his brother's actions, but Kaoru had never been in love, so he wasn't sure if he was right or not in this belief. "It hurt to see him always with Haruhi. It hurt so much sempai. But there was hope. I had kept hoping that things would get better. Lord!" Kaoru exclaimed "I'm so stupid!" Kyoya listened to his companion in silence and waited for the rest of the tirade. He knew there was more to come and he was glad he was there to hear it. Kaoru really needed to talk about this and if Kyoya hadn't been there, he would have buried everything down and not tell anyone. Not even Hunny. " Yesterday, after hosting, I hoped Hikaru would inquire about how things were with you and maybe even tease me about it. But nothing. So then I thought, he'd do it at home. Again, nothing. So I hoped today he would ask about it and you know what Kyoya?" Kaoru turned to the older boy and looked at him in the eyes. "He did ask me how my hosting went….because Haruhi told him to." The twin's voice was breaking and his eyes were filled with a pain more intense than Kyoya remembered ever seeing.

"He…He didn't even wondered about me. And he didn't realise that not wondering about me was wrong. I just…I just completely skipped his thoughts. I'm just not there. I'm invisible. Something he shouldn't concern himself with. I'm THEM…..and Haruhi is US. The princesses of the club wondered more and worried more about my hosting with you than my own twin brother did. Heck he doesn't even know I hosted with you Kyoya! He thinks I hosted alone! And he didn't realise how awful it was of him to abandon me at the last minute. Like I said, I don't appear on his radar. Haruhi does…Milord does…but I don't. I'm not in his thoughts. He doesn't care sempai. For months, I have hoped and prayed and convinced myself that 'of course he cares about me. He loves me after all!' But he just…he just doesn't. Maybe he loves me…he's my brother. Everyone loves their brother" Kaoru looked at his sempai's raised eyebrows and amended what he had just said. "Alright maybe not, though I don't know anyone who doesn't love their sister." Kyoya didn't react at this statement. As annoying, meddlesome and completely different from Kyoya as Fuyumi could be, he did love her dearly. " So he loves me. But he doesn't care. And what good is love if it's only in theory? I…what good is it Kyoya?"

"It's not" The older boy said softly. "It's not good at all. You deserve much more than this. But Kaoru have you tried talking to Hikaru about this? You're the one who has the brains and self-awareness Kaoru. Hikaru is probably oblivious to the pain he is causing you."

"But isn't that quite telling already?" Kaoru asked bitterly. Kyoya nodded."And what if it doesn't change? What if I tell him how I feel, how he has neglected me, abandoned me, forgotten completely about me….what if I tell him and he doesn't even believe me? What if I tell him and he doesn't change his actions afterwards? That would kill me sempai. That would be a level of not caring I wouldn't be able to deal with" Kaoru tightened his hold on his friend. "What do I do now Kyoya?" Kaoru sobbed. Kyoya didn't answer; he simply hugged the younger boy to himself, offering silent comfort. "I can't do this…I can't go home tonight…sleep in his bed….hear him talk about Haruhi none stop and maybe wondering if something's wrong with me, having no clue as to what he has done."

"Then don't go home tonight. If you feel the wound is too fresh, stay at a friend's house."

"Hunny has a martial arts competition tonight. He won't be home until much later."

"uhm" Kyoya said, thinking. "Unfortunately, my father is receiving associates from afar later on tonight and they will be all sleeping at our house. I will not be allowed to take a room for a friend, but I can bring a friend back home for as long as I want if we do not disturb Father." Kaoru's eyes widened. Sure Kyoya had been incredibly nice today, comforting him and all but still…being invited at Kyoya's house for anything other than business or the club was unheard of. At least for Kaoru it was. It warmed his heart that Kyoya was welcoming him into his home. He had never been close to the Shadow King. They had never really talked and they had never hanged out outside of school and the Host Club; however, Koaru had developed a very strong respect and a strange foundness of the older boy. He felt sometimes that Kyoya and he didn't need to talk to understand each other. He felt there was some inherent sense of camaraderie between them. And sometimes Kyoya just knew things about him that no one (except maybe Hunny) knew.

"Hunny-sempai? It's Kyoya." Kaoru startled out of his thoughts and looked at his friend. He had taken you his cellphone and was apparently speaking to Hunny. "Would you be able to accommodate Kaoru tonight after your competition?"

"Accommodate him? You mean if Kao-chan can sleep at my place?"

"Yes"

"Well of course Kyo-chan but…"

"He's incapable of sleeping at home tonight and I have no room to offer him due to my father's business."

Hunny sighed heavily. "Something happened with Hikaru didn't it Kyoya?" Hunny's voice was filled with sadness. It was unordinary to hear him sound like that. Mori, who was sitting beside Hunny frowned at his companion's tone. Hunny adored Kaoru and seeing him suffer affected the small boy terribly. He wanted to take Kaoru's sadness away more than anything but knew he wasn't the one with the ability to do so. Sometimes, Mori had to intervene and calm Hunny down to spare Hikaru a trip to the hospital after Hunny was finished with him. He was protective of Kaoru and found Hikaru's attitude distasteful. Hunny did not have a good relationship with his younger brother but he still showed him how much he cared for him and vice-versa. It was a strange relationship but beneath it all, both brothers knew that deep down, they were cared and loved for. With the twins though….it had become much harder for Kaoru to feel cared for nowadays. And it had apparently gotten worse.

"Yes, I'm afraid so" Hunny heard Kyoya reply.

"Tell me Kyo-chan, how bad is it?"

Kyoya paused before answering and looked at Kaoru's bloodshed eyes. "100"

"On a scale of?"

"10" Hunny sighed. This was bad. Normally, when Hunny or Mori scaled how they thought Kaoru was doing on a particular day, the answered stayed between 7 and 15 on a scale of 10." For Kyoya to say 100….this was bad. This was really bad. He'd need much more than Bun-Bun and cake to handle this one. Hunny had actually no idea how he could possibly make things better. The only thing he could do was to be there for his friend and remind him how much he is loved and cared for. "I see. Don't worry about anything. Kaoru can stay with me for as long as he wants. Can you organise it so someone picks some of his things up from his place?"

"Of course. I will also inform his mother of his whereabouts."

"Alright. I'll call you when Takashi and I get back home. I assume Kaoru is going to be at your place?"

"Yes he will"

"Good. Oh and Kyoya, I will send Bun-Bun to your house for Kao-chan. And if you could get other teddy bears to hug, and maple syrup tasting food to eat, it'll help you get Kaoru through tonight. Just…I supposed listening to him and offering some distractions are the only things we can do at this point." Hunny sighed "I will talk to you later Kyo-chan."

"Very well." Kyoya said before hanging up.

"So is it okay for me to sleep at Hunny's" Kaoru asked in a small, uncertain voice that made him look much younger than his actual age.

"Of course. He is quite happy to welcome you in his home and make it yours for as long as you need it." Kaoru nodded in gratitude. "You and Hunny-sempai have grown quite close haven't you?" Kyoya asked. Kaoru nodded and soflty said "Yes". He loved the older man. Kaoru didn't know how he could have handled the last few months without him. "Hunny-sempai is…well unique…precious. He's a wonderful friend, very attentive and although he physically looks like a child, he's very mature and offers very good advice. He's also so full of joie de vivre that you can't really stop but feel better, happier when you're around him. He noticed when Hikaru and I drifted apart and was there to support me through it." Kyoya nodded. "Kyoya-san" Kaoru started to say, feeling somewhat shy. "I…I want to thank you for what you did for me. Hosting with me…you could have simply asked me to host alone like you do, but instead you allowed me to host with you. I…I really appreciated it. It made an unbearable situation bearable and fun. I actually had a really good time and the girls seemed to love it!"

"Yes apparently, they did. Renge has reported to me how enthusiastic and intrigued the other girls were about us hosting together. Perhaps, we should try it again sometime. It's always good to innovate and keep the girls on their toes. Routines can become boring and that would not be in the interest of the club." Kaoru had to laugh at that. His sempai was always so practical. He could see opportunities out of the smallest details.

"I'm sorry" Kaoru said "I didn't mean to laugh…it's just…you can really find a benefit out of every possible situation! It's amazing really. I would never be able to do that. I'm afraid I would be quite bad at the whole business thing. Hopefully Hikaru can take care of that and I'll simply create and make clothes." Then Kaoru's smile dropped. He hadn't even thought about how Hikaru and his current relationship might affect the family business. It was never in question that both twins would take over the company eventually, but if things stayed as they are now…Kaoru couldn't bear working along side Hikaru for the rest of his life.

"You shouldn't be worrying about business Kaoru. It will take some time before either of you are asked to seriously take part in it. For now, having your annual fashion show is enough and if I remember correctly, your brother and you create separately and then join your fashion designs in the same show. You won't be required to talk to Hikaru much and by then, things would probably have gotten better."

"You really think so?" Kaoru asked, uncertain.

"Yes. Your brother and you had an incredibly strong bound when I met you Kaoru. When you opened your world to others, you started drifting apart, but that was to be expected. A world of two is different from a world of many and it takes time to adapt. Obviously, Hikaru hasn't adapted as well as you did and has problems with dividing his attention appropriately but it will get better."

"It's been months and it has only gotten worst Kyoya" Kaoru whispered. His tone had such a deep hopelessness in it… "But thank you for saying that sempai. I can't hope right now…maybe you can hope for me." Kaoru said with a sad smile. Kyoya remained silent. There was little he could do to make things better when evidence suggested that Hikaru would continue acting as he has. He couldn't be however. If Kaory refused to confront his brother, than someone else would have to do it, probably Kyoya himself or Hunny. Although, he'd have to make sure Mori is with Hunny during that conversation. Since Hunny has gotten very close to Kaoru, he will feel very protective of him and might have trouble to remain calm when confronted with Hikaru's complete obliviousness and disregard of his brother. Kyoya knew very well what Hunny was capable of and it wouldn't do for him to get into trouble over someone like Hitachiin Hikaru. He wasn't worth the trouble. Kaoru was though, admittedly. But for now, things would stay as they were. Right now, the most important thing is supporting Kaoru and getting him through this. As he looked at his companion, shoulders hunched over, cheeks stained by tears, eyes red and puffy and with a look filled with so much despair, Kyoya Ootori thought that perhaps Hunny-sempai wouldn't be the only one who'd need to be kept from punching Hikaru; he'd need someone to restrain him too.

**/**

AN: Finally! Sorry, but that was long to write. Anyway, I really, really hope you liked it. I don't know why but I'm feeling really insecure about this chapter. I hope it didn't disappoint your expectations. Thanks for reading and please comment, it's always helpful. Next update will be…well I'll try to post within 7-8 days. Hopefully, I'll manage.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Dudes, I don't even know Japanese, how could I have written a Japanese manga? And don't get me started on my drawing skills….there's a reason I choose music over arts in Sec 3 (only to be forced in Arts in Sec 4. Some high schools suck that way)**

**AN: MERRY CHRISTMAS! (late, I know, still…) So here is your late Christmas present. Hope you like it! **

**Chapter 6**

The ride to the Ootori mansion was completely silent. Kaoru had nothing left to say about Hikaru for now and no energy to try and think of another subject to talk about. And yet the silence wasn't awkward at all. Being in the Host Club with someone like Tamaki allowed for very little silence. Whenever the conversation seemed to have ended, Tamaki would start talking about something else. And Hunny was also a very talkative person but knew when silence would be much preferable. Tamaki was a different story. Kaoru had gotten so used to it now, that he found silence to be bothersome. Although perhaps that had more to do with the deafening silence present at the Hitachiin mansion and Hikaru than it had to do with the Host Club's king. Either way, Kaoru would have thought that sitting in complete silence with the Shadow King would have been uncomfortable and yet he found himself completely at ease and actually enjoying Kyoya's presence. It was very strange. Kaoru rarely felt so at ease when alone with people other than his twin yet just like on the previous host day, Kaoru was comfortable around Kyoya. Although he supposed that after sitting on his sempai's lap for an hour and randomly kissing his neck, hand or cheek, it was quite normal to find something as simple as sitting in a car with Kyoya completely natural. They had done worse in terms of intimacy. And at that thought Kaoru felt his cheeks heat up. The word intimacy was NOT a word he wanted to associate with Kyoya Ootori.

Was the older boy even capable of being intimate with someone? I mean, he always looked so cold and detached from the outside that it wouldn't be that far fetched to think no one had yet been able to penetrate those cold walls. If he didn't bring them down, he wouldn't be able to connect with someone else to the point of being intimate right? But then he remembered how Kyoya had hold him in his arms as he was crying hysterically and knew that there was more than met the eyes with Kyoya Ootori. Kaoru knew that….deep down. But sometimes it was easy to forget and take things at face value. It was something that his twin did most of the time after all and Koaru hated to disagree with his twin. Something else he would have to work on for things to get better. And anyway, his train of thoughts had been completely inappropriate. His sempai's life was none of his business, especially anything relating to the older boy's love life! If the other man knew what Kaoru was thinking about, the younger twin would die of embarrassment. Not to mention it might anger him. Kyoya was a very private person after all. Really, it was no way of thinking about his sempai. It'd be like thinking about Hunny being intima….yeah, let's not even go there. Kaoru shook his head to try to change his thoughts. Unfortunately, it just brought his mind back to how much he missed talking to his twin about people surrounding them or really, talking about anything at all.

"We're here" Kyoya said. Kaoru nodded. There was nothing to answer to that. Kaoru had been in the Ootori mansion before but he had never been there on his own; he was always accompanied by the rest of the Host Club. As such, he had never really had the time to look at the decor on the way to Kyoya's room: Tamaki was always in too much of a hurry to get going. The mansion was truly beautiful but something about it felt so impersonal. He couldn't see any details that represented who inhabited this house. He doubted anyone of Kyoya's family had anything to do with the interior designs of the mansion. The Hitachiin mansion was the opposite: his mother, Hikaru and he had decided what would go in most of the rooms. You could see each of their personality and taste reflected everywhere in their home. It was what made their house their home after all. This place really didn't feel like much of a home. It was sad actually. Kyoya must have been a really lonely child. But then again, if he hadn't been, he wouldn't be the Kyoya he was now and Kaoru liked this Kyoya just fine.

"Here" Kyoya said "You can put your things on my bed and settled down on the desk over there."

"Thank you" Kaoru said, somewhat shyly. The older boy nodded.

The first hour went by without much happening. Kaoru focused on doing his homework and studying for the test he would have next week. As for Kyoya, he was…well Kaoru didn't quite know what he was doing and the twin wasn't going to ask. If there was something you didn't do, it was disturb Kyoya when he's working. Well that and waking him up that is. The former disturbance will probably annoy him and turn him cold, but disturbing his sleep enters the category of possible murder. It was a wonder something dreadful hadn't happened to Tamaki yet. Suddenly, a phone rang. Kaoru looked in his bag; it wasn't his.

"Ootori speaking. Tamaki, I'm busy" Kyoya said coldly ('Hah! I knew it' Kaoru thought.) " We'll talk about it tomorrow. No we'll talk….Tamaki!" Kaoru couldn't see his sempai's face but by his tone, he was pretty sure the older boy was mentally rolling his eyes in exasperation. "Very well, I'll start working on it." He concluded, ending the call. Then he took out his Host Club little black book and started writing in it. Kaoru wanted to ask questions about the call but he didn't want to bother the older boy. He had already been so nice in letting him stay here until Hunny was home. And besides, Kaoru hadn't finished his math homework yet. Kami, he hated math. Where was Hikaru when he needed him? Kaoru mentally scoffed. Now wasn't that the question of the year!

Finally, Kaoru couldn't take it anymore. The person who decided that math should be taught in school should have been hanged. Plus, Kaoru's curiosity had been killing him. He needed to know what Tamaki had asked.

Slowly, he got up from his place and walked to his sempai's desk. Slowly, he leaned over the older boy's shoulder. "What are you doing?" he asked, impressed that Kyoya had showed absolutely no sign of being startled or surprise.

"Host Club business."

"Yes, I got that from when Tamaki-sempai called. What was wrong with him anyway?" Kaoru inquired.

The older boy looked up at Kaoru, closing his book. "Nothing out of the ordinary"

"Does that mean he does this often? I mean call you in the evenings?" Kaoru asked, sitting down on the edge of the desk.

Kyoya groaned. "You have no idea"

Kaoru laughed. "Yes, I suppose Milord can really be quite something to handle. I don't know how you do it. I don't think I would have the patience to do it."

"You would. Your brother however would probably kill Tamaki after a week"

"Too true" Kaoru laughed. "So what was so urgent that Tamaki needed to bother you at a time where you're probably doing homework?"

"Work. I do all my homework on the weekend. How else would I be able to pull off some of Tamaki's ideas in matter of days?"

Kaoru nodded thoughtfully. "So what is the new idea?"

"Christmas."

"What about it?"

"Apparently this year we are celebrating it traditionally."

Kaoru looked at his in confusion. "Traditionally as in the Jesus story or the Santa Claus story"

"Considering the fact that no one at school is Christian and Tamaki was talking about getting real life reindeers…"

"Ah. Santa Claus then. Argh. I am not wearing a Santa Claus outfit. I don't care if it makes Milord cultivate mushrooms in the corner, I am not wearing something that horribly unfashionable. I cannot look good in a Santa outfit and that's bad for business. Plus, people sitting in my lap" Kaoru shuddered. "Not my cup of tea"

"You don't have any problems sitting in someone else's lap however" teased Kyoya. Kaoru blushed bright red.

"Don't worry. You won't be Santa Claus"

"I don't want to be the "Fée des Étoiles" either and I don't see Haruhi going for it anymore than I would. And she's certainly not going to be Mama Claus. Unless Tamaki isn't Santa, maybe. Oh we could put Hunny as Santa! It'd be hilarious!" Kaoru laughed at the idea.

"We'll have to see. First, I need to figure out a way to make a Christmas hosting day that will suit Tamaki's extravagant taste without exceeding the budget"

"Ahhh. No real reindeers then." Kaoru added wisely.

"Not if I can do anything about it, no"

"Uhm…" Kaoru thought carefully. What could they do for Christmas? Well they needed presents for each of the princesses of course. And it shouldn't be something random; no it should be a personal gift. Maybe they could get Renge to collect information about the girls so each of them gets what they want.

"Well, you have to take into account the gifts we'll need to buy for each of the princesses and figure out what's the budget for each of these gifts so Renge can ask them what gift they would really, really want for Christmas within that budget."

Kyoya looked up from his black book. "You want to give a personalise gift to every girl?"

Kaoru felt himself blush at his friend's intense stare. How come Kyoya could make him blush so easily? "Well, yes" Kaoru said shyly. "It's Christmas and we want to make it memorable for them. What's more memorable than a boy you like taking the time to go buy a present that you will personally like? They'd be fainting by the dozen!"

Kyoya sat back on his chair, deep in thought. It's true that the girls would go crazy about it and that's always good for profits. The more they're happy, the more they spent in the host club. And it would be in Tamaki's taste. He could maybe even use it as an excuse to spend less on everything else so no argument about having reindeers. Kyoya looked back at Kaoru's uncertain form. "That's a good idea Kaoru. We can even convince Tamaki that the décor should be simpler in order to give good enough gifts."

"You just really don't want to be stuck with reindeers, do you?" Kaoru said, teasing.

"Do you?"

"They're cute!"

"Then dress up as one"

Kaoru stopped and thought. "Uh…that's actually not a bad idea. And it would take no time to make the costumes. Neither would a Grinch costume " he said teasingly.

Kyoya pushed his glasses up his nose. "Are you suggesting I paint myself green Kaoru Hitachiin" Kyoya said in his less serious menacing voice. Kaoru knew that his sempai knew he was only jesting, but he still gulped at the tone.

"Of course not sempai. You're not the Grinch who stole Chritmas." Kyoya nodded. And then Kaoru smiled and said "You're just Scrooge!" he laughed.

Kyoya raised an eyebrow. "That I can do."

Kaoru stopped laughing. "Wait, are you serious? I was just kidding Kyoya-sempai, you don't have to do it."

"Why not? It's a good theme idea"

"Oh…right. You're Scrooge and Mori is the ghost of Christmas future, since he doesn't talk. And Hunny the ghost of the past since he kind of looks like a kid and Haruhi can be the other one. What would Milord be then?"

"The nephew I resent for making my sister die in childbirth?"

Koaru laughed. "Of course. This way you have an excuse not to spend any time around Tamaki-sempai that day! He'll be even worse than during the Shakespeare hosting day." Kaoru felt a very small shudder go up his spine. He liked Tamaki, don't get him wrong, but one person could only take so much exuberance, exaggerated enthusiasm and gushing. Tamaki on a good day was just fine. Tamaki on a special day where he's doing something he's over-passionate about was another story. Normally, he was still tolerable mind you. But where Holidays were concerned, he really wasn't. During those days, Hunny was not his usual giddy self and was calmer because Tamaki was so energetic that if someone else was too, the room would explode.

"Continue speaking like that about Tamaki, and next time I'll make you host with **him**." Kyoya mockingly chastised. Kaoru's eyes widened then went back to normal and he smirk. "Sure, why not? I'm sure his lap is much more comfortable than yours" 'what in the world am I doing?' Kaoru thought 'that sounded like a challenge' And of course, you don't challenge Kyoya Ootori. Three seconds later Kaoru found himself pulled off the desk and down on the older boy's lap. "Are you sure about that?" Kyoya said simply, maintaining his usual, detached coolness. Kaoru found himself blushing yet again. 'Oh Kami. What do I do now?' Kaoru said. No way was he letting Kyoya intimidate him or anything. He was a Hitachiin twin after all. He looked around and suddenly saw what looked like a drawing on the older boy's desk. Ah perfect. If Kyoya had wished to scare the twin away by putting him on his lap, then he had another thing coming. Kaoru had just found the perfect reason not to move an inch while not feeling as uncomfortable and embarrassed as he felt now.

"Is that a first plan of what the Christmas décor would look like?" he asked. "No, no, that won't do." Picking up a pencil, he started drawing what he thought it should be like. At first, he expected his sempai to tell him to get off and go work on it at the other desk, but it never happened. Then again, he shouldn't be surprised. Kyoya was intelligent. He knew Kaoru was basically challenging him and that pushing him away would make the younger boy win. And unless there was a very good reason to lose, Kyoya was never one to back down and let someone else win. Kaoru blushed at the realisation that he was now stuck on his sempai's lap. Oh why did he always have to challenge other people and try to make them uncomfortable? Oh yes…. Because it was so much fun! Except that Hikaru was the one with the most brilliant ideas for pranks and challenges. They usually won. But on his own….Kaoru should have thought twice. Oh well. He had been on Kyoya's lap during hosting yesterday so it was fine…..

As long as this didn't become a habit of course. And it wouldn't. Why in the world would it become a habit? 'Perhaps because hosting with the Shadow King sounds much better than hosting with Hikaru at the moment?' an annoying voice answered him in his head. Kaoru mentally groaned. Hosting with Hikaru….he really didn't need that right now. Maybe Hunny and Mori would allow him to host with them for a while; he didn't want to have to bother Kyoya again after all. When the other boys were hosting, Kyoya was….well actually, Kaoru didn't quite know what his sempai did on hosting days where he didn't host for girls. Probably something to do with the club's profit and future activities….Either way, Koaru wasn't going to ask his sempai to host with him again. 'Actually, you didn't ask anything. He's the one who suggested his help' the voice said. It was true, thought Kaoru. His sempai had volunteered, something for which Kaoru will always be grateful. Soon, Kaoru was done drawing his ideas and retreated to finish his evil math homework, which he finished in record time thanks to Kyoya helping him do it. The older boy truly was a genius. After his homework, Kaoru decided to go watch some television and let his friend work on his business.

/

"You have to concentrate, Mitsukuni" Mori told his good friend. The competition was going well but it was obvious to a trained observer that Hunny was not in top shape.

"I know Takashi, but Kaoru…"

Mori shook his head. "You've grown much too protective of him recently. You have to let him come to terms with things on his own."

"It's what I'm trying to help him do." The smaller boy replied.

"Yes but be careful. Sometimes I fear you're trying to replace Hikaru. You can't and you shouldn't. Kaoru needs to open his world, not close it on the two of you."

"But Takashi…" Hunny argued.

" No. I understand why you're worried, but you shouldn't be. He can take care of himself and Kyoya is with him at the moment if he needs support."

Hunny sighed. "yes I know but still…It's just so hard to see Kao-chan so miserable all the time. I wish I could make the pain go away but I can't. I can't help him move on."

"Perhaps you're not meant to. Maybe that job is for someone else." Mori said.

Hunny gave his friend a questioning look "Why do I feel you know something that I don't?" Hunny asked.

Mori gave him a small smile. "You are an observant person but recently you have put blinders on your eyes and look only at Kaoru. Look around some more and you'll see what I mean" said the older boy. Hunny frowned a little. He'd have to observe more. He hated when Takashi knew something and didn't share.

/

"Kao-chan!" Hunny exclaimed running to his friend and hugging him tight. The competition had finally come to an endm so Kyoya had sent Kaoru to the Haninozuka residence. The competition had gone well: Mori and Hunny had tied in first place. Hunny was happy. Recently, Takashi had been winning against him so a tie meant Hunny had improved since the last competition.

"Hey Hunny-sempai." Kaoru said softly.

"I'm sorry I couldn't send you Bun-Bun. I had forgotten the maids were doing the laundry this evening. Don't worry though, he's all good now!"

"Good" Kaoru said softly, his eyes starting to fill with tears. When he had been at the Ootori mansion, he had had a lot of things to occupy himself with. Plus, somehow, Kyoya's presence had soothed him. Hunny however was the one who always listened to him vent and being close to him, just made him want to express all the sadness he had been containing inside of him.

"Oh Kaoru-chan…" Hunny said. "Didn't staying with Kyo-chan help a little?"

"Yes actually it did. Kyoya is…well I don't know. I just…he was there. He…he actually hold me against him and let me cry all over him. It's so out of character for him. I never imagined…But there he was, helping me and letting me cry like a baby and he was so calm about it. He didn't make a fuss or anything. It was…nice. And I'm comfortable around him. Studying at his house was just like being home really, except that I wasn't all alone."

"I'm glad Kyo-chan was there for you."

"Yes" Kaoru said, tears starting to fill his eyes, "but it shouldn't have been him." Kaoru laughed bitterly. "Look at me. Crying again. I thought I had cried all that was in me earlier on today but now…"

"Now it's all coming back. " Hunny completed. "Come, let's go to my room.

Kaoru followed his sempai quietly. Once in the room, he jumped on the older boy's bed and grabbed Bun-Bun, hugging him tight.

"Kyo-chan said something bad happened today."

Kaoru shook his head "It's not so much what happened today as an accumulation of everything that's been happening. The day started fine. Hikaru let me sleep in because he noticed I was tired."

"Well that's good! He hadn't notice the last time you had insomnia!"

Kaoru paused and thought. This was one of the reason he loved Hunny so much: the older boy always saw the bright side of things and could find ups even within the worst downs. "I hadn't thought about that. I suppose….as far as noticing go…it was actually better. I mean he saw I was upset but he just…." Kaoru hold back a sob as tears silently slid down his cheeks.

"He what?" Hunny asked softly, taking Kaoru's hand in his.

"I got upset because he apologized for leaving me alone only because Haruhi told him to and because he didn't even know that I had hosted with Kyoya. But it's not what hurt the most. That angered me but it wasn't anything I wasn't used to. But Hikaru disregarding my being upset with him to go save Haruhi from Milord… That had never happened before. Hikaru and I…when the other is upset…"

"You cheer the other up, make sure you know what is happening, like Takashi and I always do."

"Yeah exactly. I just….right then, right there, I felt like it was over. Like I had officially lost my brother."

"Kaoru you haven't lost Hikaru for good. He's lost sight of you, it's true. He's been so busy trying to conquer Haruhi as opposed to Tama-chan that he doesn't see you anymore but it's not because he doesn't love you or because he doesn't care…It's because he failed to expand his world." Hunny said. Kaoru looked at his friend, confused. "You world was a world of two. Before Tama-chan and the club, you had never known anything but a world of two. When you tried to open you're world, you started to include me in, which made a world of three. But Hikaru didn't. He continued living in a world of two. Except that this time…"

"Haruhi was number two." Kaoru cut in.

"You try to make a world of two too Kao-chan. You truly let me in when Hikaru started pulling away but if you had your way, you would be in a world of two with Hikaru. You both need to learn what it's like to be in a bigger world. Brothers, even when they're close, don't spend all their time together. They each have their own friends. Think about Takashi and me. We're incredibly close and spend a lot of time together but we also have other friends. Although we grew up together, we've been accustomed to being completely separated from time to time."

"But Hikaru and I never were."

"Yes and that's why you missed him so terribly even before he started being completely absent."

Kaoru sighed. "What do I do now? I can't face him and I especially can't host with him!"

"Well good. You need to distance yourself a little. See other people. As for hosting, didn't hosting with Kyoya go well?"

"Well yeah…" Kaoru said, blushing brightly. "But I can't very well ask Kyoya to host with me from now on!"

"Why not? I'm sure Kyo-chan wouldn't mind!"

"I doubt…" Kaoru started but his friend interrupted him. "Let's ask him" the small boy said dialling Kyoya's number.

"Kyo-chan? Hi. Kao-chan and I were wondering if you could host with him from now on. Hosting with Hikaru will make things too hard. Alright good. Thank you Kyo-chan!" Hunny said hanging up "See? Kyoya has no problem hosting with you. Apparently Renge-san has been accumulating data from the girls about you two and they're very intrigued as to what is going on. Kyo-chan thinks it would be very good for the profit to explore the relationship between you and him further for the girls!"

Kaoru blushed and groaned. "I knew Renge had taken notes of the girls reactions and that hosting with Kyoya might be ask of me in the future but I didn't want to ask. He's already done a lot for him. I don't want to bother him. Plus hosting with Kyoya…last time it was…" he said.

Hunny raised an eyebrow surprised. "I thought you were happy with last time. And this way you don't have to host with Hikaru nor alone."

"Well yeah but…couldn't I host with you instead?" Kaoru said. It's not that he didn't like Kyoya or that he wasn't grateful it's just that….with Kyoya, he'd have to fake romance like he used to with Hikaru and that was…well…awkward and also not something he felt able to fake right now.

"You don't like hosting with Kyo-chan?"

"Of course I do. I did say it went well last time but it would mean acting all romantic you know, like with Hikaru and…" Kaoru trailed off, blushing.

"You didn't have a problem yesterday! You kept giving him little kisses!" Hunny replied, happily. But then he looked at the younger man's face. He had never seen Kaoru blush so red before. He was turning into a tomato. Huh. That was…interesting. "You know, you were playing Puck, so you needed to be very extraverted and expressive. But as yourself you don't need to. Just play it shy, like you can't believe what you did last time and you just want to bolt from fear because of it. I have a feeling that you won't have any problem pulling that off and the ladies will love it!" Hunny said. Oh yes indeed, he had no doubt Kaoru could play that off….because really, he wouldn't be playing at all….it's probably how Kaoru will feel on the next host day. And this was really interesting. Takashi was right; he needed to observe more attentively from now on.

/

**AN**: My readers learn patience with me. I would rather they didn't have to but inspiration and school make things hard. Bad news is, I'll start stages soon. 210 hours in high school, then March break and then 210 hours in primary school. Oh joy….I'd much rather be writing fanfics than making lesson plans but sadly writing fanfics doesn't pay: teaching does (BUT STAGES DON'T! I can't work during stage and I'm not paid...the only good news is after them I'll be liscence to teach and be able to find a job!). And teaching is FUN. It's just making Concordia approved detailed lesson plans that suck the life out of my brain! So I have no idea when the next update will be. Could be soon, could be in four months….If you like this story, I suggest you click on the Story Alert button. This way you'll be told when I update!


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Is Kaoru dating Kyoya in canon? No? Then I don't own it silly!**

**AN: Here is another chapter at last! I really hope you like it!**

**Chapter 7 **

Kaoru Hitachiin couldn't sleep. Everything that had been happening recently kept replaying in his head, over and over again. He turned to one side, then to the other and counted sheep but nothing seemed to work. Tomorrow, he'd have to go to school where his twin brother was. His twin brother with whom he had unresolved issues…. Kaoru thought about many things but one always seemed to come back: 'What if Hikaru didn't even notice I didn't sleep at home?' Hikaru hadn't been attentive to Kaoru recently and Kaoru had wondered if there was anything left from his previous relationship with his twin, but for his brother not to notice him not sleeping at home? Surely it wouldn't happen. And yet, Kaoru told himself that it might. It's just one night after all. And he had been keeping his distance from Hikaru because of this whole situation. Kaoru mentally sighed. He just couldn't stop worrying about the next day. He knew himself; he knew that as soon as he would arrive at school, he would seek out Hikaru and risk being disappointed yet again. But he mustn't do it. For the last few months, the only twin who sought out the other had been Kaoru; Hunny said it was time for him to let Hikaru come to him instead. He understood why he had to do this. By running after Hikaru, he was simply closing himself off the rest of the world. If Hikaru hanged out with his friends than why shouldn't Kaoru do the same? Yes, there was a problem between the twins but Hikaru wasn't the only one with problems. There was a reason why Hikaru's behaviour affected his younger brother so much. Kaoru needed to learn to let go. It was a hard thing to do but he did realise it was necessary. So tomorrow, even though he missed Hikaru and wished he could have seen even just a glimpse of him tonight, he'll go to his locker, talk to his friends of the Host Club and start speaking with people who are in his class who are not Hikaru and Haruhi. He'd opened his world to more than one person first; then he'd go and confront Hikaru about what has been going on. He needed to build his strength first thought, because right now, he'd just fall apart all over again.

Waking up the next day was a hardship. Both because he had had little sleep and because he knew he had to go to a place where his twin was. His heart sank at the thought. Slowly he got up and walked to the shower. Hunny was already up and training with Mori but he'd soon come back to his room to eat breakfast with Kaoru. The young twin concentrated on how much fun breakfast was going to be. Hunny was a very pleasant person to be around and with his incredible sweet tooth, Kaoru was guaranteed top quality pancakes with the best Canadian maple syrup ever made. That was something positive for this day at least.

"So how are you doing today Kao-chan" Hunny asked between two bites of pancakes.

"I…honestly not so good. But I'll be fine. I just…need to get through today."

"You know you can come to see me anytime during the day right?" Hunny said quietly.

"Yes. I know" Kaoru answered, giving his sempai a small smile.

"And if you can't find me I'm sure Kyoya will be more than happy to help you" Hunny said, trying to sound innocent even though really, he was testing waters to see if he had been mistaken in his observation last night. But he hadn't been because as soon as he had finished his sentence a blush formed on Kaoru's cheek and the twin looked down. 'Uh.' Hunny thought. 'Interesting'

The older boy left the subject fall. He knew he shouldn't push Kaoru on this. After all, the whole point was Kaoru opening his world up; not making him freak out and close himself up.

The ride to school was spent with Hunny talking excitedly about his competition the evening before while Mori and Kaoru listened. Kaoru thought it was no wonder Mori was always so silent. Growing up with Hunny, he probably didn't have many opportunities to talk; it's kinda hard to talk when the person beside you never stop talking! Kaoru found it endearing. Especially the way the taller boy was humouring the smaller one. Hunny and Mori had a close, healthy relationship. Kaoru could only hope to have this kind of relationship in his life. And he was beginning to think that maybe, it wouldn't be with Hikaru.

Entering the school that day must have been the hardest thing Kaoru had had to do in his life. His heart was beating fast and hard as he walked up to his locker. As of yet, there were no sign of his twin. When he entered his classroom, again there were no sign of Hikaru. Kaoru approached his desk and settle his things. Then he looked around the room. Opening his world meant talking to people, so he looked around the classroom to try and find someone he would enjoy talking to. It was very hard. Outside of the host club, he didn't have any friends. And that's when he noticed her, sitting at her desk reading a book and looking as if she wanted to be swallowed whole by her chair. He knew that face. She'd been in his class in Junior high too. And had also been quiet as a mouse back then. From what little he could remember, the girl was very shy and had few friends. And just like Kaoru, all her friends were in other classes. Slowly, he walked up to her and introduced himself.

"Hi. My name is Hitachiin Kaoru. Can I sit beside you?" The girl looked up to him surprised that someone was talking to her. She usually kept to herself and people kept away from her. "We were in the same class before but I can't recall your name"

"Yu..Yuki" She stuttered. "My name is Mitsubi Yuki."

"Well…uhm…" Kaoru felt ill at ease. It had never happened to him before. He couldn't recall ever going to speak to someone on his own. Normally, Hikaru did the presentations and the rest. "Well… I haven't really done this before." He said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "You see I have a twin…uhm I'm sure you've noticed."

"Yes but you're rarely together anymore. He's always with Haruhi-san." Kaoru's face fell. "Oh I…I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you" Kaoru looked up at her and gave her a small smile.

"It's alright Yuki-san. You're not the one making me sad. And you're right. We're rarely together anymore and all of my friends are in other classes and I know the same is true for you so I thought maybe we could get to know each other. You seemed like a really intelligent and nice girl."

"Th..Thank you, Kaoru-san. I'd be…I'd be happy to become your friend. I have few of those" She said blushing. Yuki had never been good at integrating herself to other children. All her friends had made the first move. Unfortunately, very few people made that first move. But Kaoru Hitachiin did and when she saw the same loneliness and sadness in his eyes than she did her own not so long ago, before she met her best friend Hikari….she couldn't help but want to be his friend.

"I have few of those too." Kaoru replied. "My friends are basically the Host Club members."

Yuki nodded. "My best friend and I met in an extra-curricular activity too. We're in a choir"

"Really?" Kaoru asked interested. "What kind of songs do you sing?" Talking to Yuki was surprisingly natural. She was timid and smart and nice and most of all, she was not a fangirl like the princesses of the Host Club. He didn't think he could really be friends with someone gushing over him or his twin. Soon their sensei arrived and Kaoru noticed that for the first time in ever, he had not been looking at the door waiting for Hikaru to cross the door. Maybe things would be bearable after all. But then he looked at his twin laughing at whatever Haruhi said and he knew it wasn't that easy. His heart still constrict at the fact his brother hadn't sought him out as soon as he entered the room. But Kaoru wasn't going to go running after him and begging to be noticed after all. Even if everything in him was screaming at him to do just that. He needed to be strong. He felt grateful to have formally met Yuki. Having someone to talk to in his class would make things a little easier.

/

Kaoru was picking up his lunch from his locker when his twin finally came up to him.

"Hey Kaoru! I haven't seen you today" Kaoru had to bite his tongue to keep from saying 'when have you ever seen me in the last few months! You wouldn't see me even if I was wearing a pink tutu and screaming your name at the top of my lungs' His heart filled with bitterness and finally he couldn't stop himself from talking.

"Funny. I saw you just fine all day." Kaoru replied coldly.

"Are you mad at me or something?"

"Or something" Kaoru replied because really, 'being mad' was not explicit enough to explain every thing Kaoru felt when his brother was concerned.

" Oookkay. So what's up? Is this about me leaving you alone to host last time? 'cause you know I didn't think you'd be upset."

'Alright.' Kaoru thought. 'breathe. Screaming at Hikaru will not help the situation any.'

"No Hikaru. Why would it be? It's not like you changed our plans without consulting me first after all." Kaoru tried not to be sarcastic. He really did. But right now he had two choices; break down in tears over the fact that his brother did not think about how leaving him alone without prior notice would hurt him, did not notice how he was constantly abandoning him and apparently didn't notice Kaoru hadn't been home last night, or he could keep all that disappointment and despair inside and get angry over the fact that his brother keeps neglecting him. Kaoru thought he had cried enough yesterday to last a good week.

"Look I said I was sorry." Hikaru said, not sounding sorry at all. He actually sounded rather exasperated at Kaoru. Which only fuelled the younger boy's anger.

"Actually, you didn't Hikaru. You told me you weren't hosting with me on the day of the hosting and you never apologized for it. You didn't even think to check if it was okay with me if you changed our plans. You didn't worry about my reaction until Haruhi told you maybe you should have worried about how I handled things. You know I should go thank Haruhi for actually caring about me"

Kaoru wasn't ready to truly confront his brother. He wasn't ready to tell him anything. But he had to start somewhere didn't he? He couldn't well confront Hikaru about the last months when he had never made his displeasure known before. Hikaru wouldn't understand at all where it came from.

Hikaru frowned at his twin's words. It's not like it was that big of a deal. So he hosted alone once. It wasn't going to kill him.

"So you're pissed because you hosted alone. It was just a one time thing Kaoru. No need to make it a big deal"

Kaoru was flabbergasted and tears welled up in his eyes. He should have just completely avoided Hikaru. "You think I'm angry because I hosted alone? Really Hikaru? **That's** what you think I'm angry about?" Kaoru shook his head. "You know what forget it. If you don't know….if you can't understand….why should I even bother when you don't." Kaoru said closing his locker and walking away. Then he turned around and looked at his twin. "And by the way Hikaru, it wasn't a one time thing because you and I are not hosting together anymore. Apparently the girls loved how my hosting partner and I were together."

"But you were alone" Hikaru said frowning.

Kaoru tried to kept his anger from lashing out. "No I wasn't. How about you go ask Haruhi what exactly it implies that you didn't know that. Kami knows I'm loosing hope of you ever figuring anything out." 'Especially after me never coming home after school yesterday and you saying nothing about it.' Kaoru thought bitterly, quickly turning around and walking away to hide the tears that were falling from his eyes. He needed to see Hunny and quick.

/

Kaoru walked as fast as he could towards his sempai's table. Mori and Kyoya were eating with him, which wasn't unusual except that normally Milord was also there. Not that Kaoru was complaining. He preferred talking to Hunny without their exuberantly happy leader there. Plus, Tamaki being absent from the table automatically meant that Haruhi wasn't there either. He didn't hate the girl but right now, he feared he'd snap at her anyway.

"What did he do now?" Kyoya asked him, not even lifting his eyes from his little black book. How did his sempai notice so many things while looking like he's attentively working on something else? Seriously, there was talent there.

"Kao-chan…" Hunny said sadly. "What happened? Did you have trouble finding friends in your classroom?" Hunny asked, hoping that were true all the while knowing this was probably about something Hikaru did….again. And Takeshi who kept telling not to hurt the older twin…

"No actually, that went really well." Kaoru said thinking about Yuki and their conversation before and between classes. "There's this girl Yuki. She's been in my class before but I had never talked to her. She usually keeps to herself and has only a few friends so I…I can relate. And I went to talk to her and she's…she's great. She's intelligent and funny and totally not a fangirl of the Host Club. She's liked the same guy for a while now but she hasn't done anything about it. She's not like all the girls who keep running after us and offering us gifts at Valentine's day and all. I like that about her."

"She sounds like she could be a good friend" Mori said.

"Yes she does"

"So then Hikaru did something again?" Hunny said his voice getting a little angry. Kaoru only shrugged.

"He made you cry again." Kyoya said. His voice was cold and sounded deadly. Hunny turned to the younger man and looked at him attentively. Then, he turned to Takeshi, a silent question being past between the two. Takeshi nodded. Hunny smiled. He was happy that Kaoru and Kyoya had found each other. The latter one was as closed off as the twins were, Tamaki being the only one who had ever been truly let in. It was nice to see that apparently, Kyoya was letting Kaoru in.

"It's not…" Kaoru started, but then he just sighed. He was tired. "Hikaru and I had words. He…by the way I talked to him, he figured that I was angry at him and his conclusion was that I was unjustifiably angry because he let me host alone for one single day. I was…I couldn't believe that I couldn't believe he was that clueless. I should have known." He sighed again. "Hikaru….He just didn't get it and it made me angry. I either had to cry or to rage and I figured I had done enough of the former so…I tried to express my anger. It ended up with me telling him I wouldn't be hosting with him anymore and to consult Haruhi on what that meant and I pointed out how he apparently did not notice I did not come home last night. And the worst is that he's probably thinking that I'm the one in the wrong and he's blameless. I just…I really should have not talked to him at all." Kaoru said in defeat.

"I don't agree." Kyoya said. "You have every right to be angry Kaoru and you can't let this eat you up. You'll have to confront Hikaru eventually. You might as well start a little at a time"

"Kyo-chan is right Kaoru. You've spent the last few months just taking all the pain Hikaru caused and not doing anything about it. It's time Hikaru wakes up and I think the last few months showed us he's not able to do so on his own. But I understand that you don't wish to fight with him, especially if he's closing himself off by thinking he didn't do anything wrong. You can keep your distance for a while. There's nothing wrong with that. You have to think about yourself first for once."

Kaoru nodded at his friend's word. It was hard for him not to make Hikaru a priority but if he wanted to survive this, he had no other choice.

"Hunny sempai, do you mind if I stay at your place for a while?"

"Of course not! You're welcome to stay as long as you want. Bun-Bun and I are always happy to have a sleepover."

"Thank you" Kaoru said gratefully, starting to eat his lunch. Things with his brother may be going badly but at least he knew he had friends he could count on. It had to count for something.

**AN : There it is! Next chapter****, we should see more of Hikaru but I thought about it and I don't think he'll get a clue just yet. Thanks WinterRavenheart for your review! You're right. He's not ready to get a clue. What was I thinking. anyway big thanks! Anyway, if you liked, please review! If you have any suggestions of things you'd like to see, please review! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Well…..Kyoya still isn't dating Kaoru so yeah, still don't own it. It's such a shame. **

AN: Here's another chapter! Hope you like it! This story is going a little slow. I mean you may not feel it (though you might….sorry if it's going slow), it's just that I have this scene written and I love it and I look at where I'm at right now and think "ok I'm so not there yet. I need things to develop first." ARGH! I had never written a scene far in the future before so now I find it difficult to get there. But I'll do my best. In the meantime, I do hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Chapter 8**

It takes his mother, who just came back from her trip, waking Hikaru up and asking where Kaoru is for Hikaru to realise that the bed was indeed still empty. He had gone to sleep the last few days without Kaoru being in the bed first but he had figured Kaoru had gone to sleep after him and gotten up before he did. But his mother woke him when she came to check on them, worried about where her youngest son was. Hikaru was disoriented, tired and really had no idea where his twin was. He was sure he was fine though; he would have felt it if Kaoru had been in trouble. His mother however didn't seem to trust his instinct and she immediately took out her phone book and called the Ootori Mansion. Out of all the members of the Host Club, Ootori Kyoya was the one who communicated the most with the members' parents and she had heard her boys talk about how the older boy always seemed to know everything. Yuzuha figured that if there was one person who would know where her son was, it would be him.

"Ootori-san?"

"Mrs. Hitachiin. What can I do for you?"

"I'm so sorry to be calling this late but I've just arrived from my trip and when I went to check on the twins, Kaoru wasn't there. You wouldn't know where he could be at would you?"

"Of course. Kaoru has been staying at the Haninozuka mansion for the last three days. I do not know when he will be going back home. There is…..a problem shall we say, between the twins and Kaoru thought it would be better if he kept his distance."

"Hikaru didn't tell me they had fought."

"Well Hikaru doesn't really know much about Kaoru these days. I cannot tell you more; Kaoru has to be the one to speak with you but I can assure you that the host club members and I are taking care of your youngest son to the best of our abilities."

"Well thank you. I'm reassured. Would it be possible for you to ask Kaoru to come home tomorrow so I can speak with him please?"

"Of course. There's no problem."

"Arigato, Ootori-san"

Yuzuha turn off the phone. Something must be very wrong if Hikaru was the reason for Kaoru staying out of the house. She would have to talk to Kaoru. Hopefully, things will work themselves out.

Hikaru was angry. His brother was supposed to be home yesterday and he hadn't been and then they're mother had arrived and started worrying over his disappearance. Kaoru was so going to get it.

"Kaoru!" Hikaru said when his twin arrived at his locker. "Where the heck have you been? Do you know how worried mom was when she got home and you weren't there? How could you do that?"

Kaoru was shocked. Hikaru was angry at him? Hikaru….who hadn't paid attention to his twin in forever was angry with Kaoru?

"Ex…Excuse me, but I think the real question should be 'How could you not know you're brother hadn't slept at home for three days and not know where he was!" Yuki said. Kaoru and she had met at the entrance of the school and had started talking and walking together. They had just arrived at Kaoru's locker when his twin suddenly jumped down his throat. Yuki was normally a very shy girl and she mostly kept to herself, but she was fiercely loyal. She didn't have many friends so she felt very protective of the few she had. She had only been hanging out with Kaoru for three days and already she knew some of what happened between the twins. Kaoru and she had really hit it off and they've spent a while talking on the phone the night before. Let it be said she was not much of fan of Hikaru at the moment.

"Who are you?" Hikaru asked annoy at the strange girl. "Host club is this afternoon, why don't you come back then?"

"Hikaru! Don't be rude." Kaoru said, snapping out of it. "Yuki is my friend not a client"

"Your friend?"

"Yes my friend. I'm allowed to have those, after all Haruhi is your friend isn't she?"

"Our friend."

Kaoru rolled his eyes. "I'm friendly to Haruhi but we aren't close like friends are. As for your accusations, you have no right. Kyoya already told me about mom and I'll talk to her today but you personally have no right. You went to sleep three nights with me being absent and you did not wonder once where I was and now you want to know where I spent my time? It's none of your business anymore. Come on Yuki, let's get to class." 'before I start crying out of frustration and sadness. Three days and the only reason he noticed is because of mom.' Kaoru thought bitterly.

To say things were cold between the twins at the beginning of the host club would be an understatement. Hikaru had glared at Kaoru so hard at first that the poor girls had whimpered out of fright. Thankfully, Haruhi was there to calm the older twin down. As for Kaoru, he was visibly tensed and ignoring Hikaru as much as he could, which wasn't an easy task. Fortunately, Kyoya soon finished doing whatever it was Kyoya did and joined Kaoru to entertain the princesses. Thankfully, none of them asked him what was happening between Hikaru and him. He wouldn't have known what to say. He left the explanation of the separation of the 'Brotherly Love' act to people like Kyoya and Renge. He was certain they would find something. The hosting went well. Kyoya flirted and touched his knee or his arm and Kaoru blushed, acting very timid and embarrassed about how much leeway he had given himself as Puck, acting as if he now regretted being so straightforward during the last Host Club event. But it wasn't like hosting with his brother. Of course, recently, hosting with his brother hadn't been like hosting with his brother either…. Kaoru sighed. Nothing was as it used to be anymore.

Hikaru was pissed. How dare Kaoru dismiss him like he had. None of his business? He was his twin wasn't he? Of course where is twin was at was his business. He had the right to know what was going on with his own brother. First, he got angry at him over nothing and now he doesn't want to share where he was last night? What was wrong with his younger brother nowadays?

"What do you think you're doing?" Hikaru asked when Kaoru entered their limousine after school.

Kaoru sighed. "I'm going home to speak to mom."

"Oh I don't think so. Not until you tell me where you were last night."

"I already told you Hikaru. You don't have the right to know anymore. Not until you do what you need to do." Hikaru looked up confused at his brother. What was Kaoru getting at? What was he supposed to do?

"I don't know what that means but I know you're not staying in this limousine until you tell me what's wrong with you."

"What's….? Seriously! You're asking what's wrong with _me_? You know what forget it. I'll get home with my own means." Kaoru got out of the limousine angry and slam the door shut. He couldn't believe Hikaru's nerve! He'd walk home before staying in the same car as his brother right now.

"What has he done now?".

"Kyoya-sempai!" Kaoru startled. He hadn't heard Kyoya coming up to him. "Nothing it's just….we've been fighting today."

"Yes I've noticed. You realise we'll have to come up with a reason as to why there's hostility between you two for Host Club."

"Yes I've realized but I'm confident you can find an explanation to the club's advantage Kyoya-sempai."

Kyoya nodded. "So what was this fight about?"

"The same as this morning. Hikaru wants to know where I've been and I've told him that it wasn't any of his business anymore. If he can ignore me as he has done, then he really has no right to question me but he doesn't get that and….maybe I should have just told him I was at Hunny's…" Kaoru sighed.

"I'm glad you've told him Kaoru. You can't let Hikaru walk all over you. You've been hurt enough as it is." Kyoya said, his tone getting darker. Koaru wasn't sure what to make of it. Then, his sempai surprised him by putting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't let Hikaru bring you down. He's not the only one in your world anymore and I understand how the distance between you must be painful to you, but it is a necessary pain. You need to let go just like he need to wake up and come back to you."

Kaoru nodded, tears coming up in his eyes.

"Kyoya-sempai….uhm would you mind giving me a lift home so I can speak to mother?"

"Of course not."

The ride to the Hitachiin mansion happened in comfortable silence. When Kaoru exited the car and directed himself towards the entrance door, he was surprised to see his sempai following him in.

"Kimichi" Kaoru called a servant. "Can you tell my mother Kaoru is home"

"Of course Master Kaoru." She said going to fetch her mistress.

"Have you thought of what you will tell your mother?" Kyoya asked.

Kaoru looked up surprised. He hadn't really thought about what he was going to tell her. Should he tell her the truth? Hikaru and he had always be Hikaru and him. They hadn't included anyone else, including their parents. Perhaps it was time to change. Haruhi seemed so close to her father. Kaoru never really felt like that towards his parents.

"Koaru honey…. and Ootori-san. Come. We'll take this to the living room. Kimichi, bring tea please."

"So, what happened while I was away that was so bad as to make you and Hikaru split up?" Kaoru's mother asked.

"It….It wasn't like that mother. It wasn't just this one thing. It was an overall thing and it started before you left on your trip."

His mother took a sip of tea. "I see. Does this have to do with this girl Haruhi that your brother spends time with?"

"Yes. It is related to her."

"I've always known how close you two boys were and I always worried about what it would mean when you were going to get out in the world. I was so happy when you joined Host Club. I thought it would be good for you two to see other people. Isn't Hikaru spending time with Haruhi a good thing in the long run?" she asked.

Kaoru looked down. He wasn't sure if his mother could understand.

"Mrs. Hitachiin, if I may" Kyoya interjected. "It isn't Hikaru opening his world to Haruhi that is a problem. In fact, you are right. It would be a good thing. The problem is that this is not what Hikaru has done. Instead of including other people in the world he had with his brother, he simply created another world of two with Haruhi, excluding his own twin. Did you know last night was the third night Kaoru wasn't at home and that Hikaru had no clue Kaoru was gone at all?"

Yuzuha was surprised. As far as she knew both her sons had always been hyper-aware of each other and would have always known where the other was. Not without being upset and worried about it.

" I…I'm shocked. It doesn't sound like the Hikaru I know."

"Me neither." Kaoru said, rather bitterly. "But it's the truth. Hikaru barely spent any time with me in the last months and didn't notice things he would have noticed before and….I hurt me, mother. It broke my heart and Hikaru isn't aware of anything. Rather, right now, he's angry at me. I would prefer staying with Hunny for a while than to come back in this kind of environment."

"Of course. I understand. As long as I know where you are and Hunny's parents are okay with it, you can do whatever you think is best for you darling. Take as much time as you need. But do visit once in a while. I already don't see much of you boys with all the fashion shows I've been doing recently. I don't want to see you even less."

Kaoru nodded and was surprised at how good his mother hugging him made him feel.

As Kyoya was about to leave the house, Yazuha gently grabbed his arm.

"You take good care of my son, Ootori-san. I'm entrusting him in your hands. Take care of him" She said, convinced the young boy was going to be doing just that. She hadn't missed how Kyoya had instinctively reached for Kaoru when the latter had looked down, not knowing what to tell his mother. She had seen how the other boy stood ready to protect her son from the outside world. She knew he would take care of Kaoru; mothers always knew these kinds of things.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Dude, if I owned, KyoKao would be canon. **

**AN: Ok so I've been having one of the most horrible writer's block ever. Couldn't write anything for any story. I was able to write this. It's not long but it's something! Hopefully I'll be able to write more soon!**

**Chapter 9 **

"Thank you sempai…for explaining things to my mother." Kaoru told Kyoya once they were back in the limousine. "I found myself without words. Telling my mother what is on my mind is not something I'm used to. I'm used to simply talking with Hikaru about everything."

Kyoya nodded, knowing very well how the twin's relationship used to be. "Perhaps it might be good to start telling her more about your life. She seemed genuinely concerned about what was happening."

Kaoru nodded. His focus had been on Hikaru for so long that he had neglected forming proper relationships with people surrounding him, including his parents. He loved them both of course but he wasn't very close to them and had few occasions to really speak with his mother since she was always quite busy with work. He had never felt the need to establish a closer connection to his mother before but now….now he wished he could have a relationship with her like Haruhi with her dad. It would have made things easier if he had had some support from home.

The next day, things between the twins were not much better. Hikaru would glare at Kaoru at any chance he would have. Kaoru tried to stay strong and hanged out with Yuki, but it was hard to have his twin mad at him. Especially, when he didn't have a good reason to be mad at him. Host Club didn't promise to be any better.

"Cheer up Kaoru!" Hunny said at lunch time. "Things will be fine. Just stay with Kyo-chan during host Club or come to Takashi and me. This way Hikaru won't have a chance to corner you." That was Kaoru's fear. That his brother would find a way to get him alone and then….well he didn't know what would happen then. He doubted however that it would make things better. Actually, he was pretty sure it would make things worse….if that was even possible.

It turned out Host Club went really well. It seemed Hikaru had gone from glaring at him to the ignoring him strategy. For once, Kaoru was actually grateful for it. He really couldn't deal with this at the moment. Kaoru continued to play shy, blushing prettily when Kyoya had pulled him on his lap for the rest of the host club. The girls were blushing but they were also often looking between Hikaru and Kaoru, wondering once again why the twins were separated and if this meant they were both dating other people now. They didn't dare ask however with how angry Hikaru had seem to be recently.

"You realise of course that we'll have to provide the girls with an explanation soon enough right?" Kyoya told Kaoru after the club. Haruhi, Hikaru and Tamaki had already left.

Kaoru sighed. "I know sempai. I just don't know how to explain it. I can't tell the truth! Not when Hikaru himself doesn't even know it."

"Yes that's quite the problem isn't it?" Hunny added. "We have to find an explanation for the girls that Hikaru and Kaoru can live up to while hosting. We can't say it's because Hikaru hasn't been there for Kaoru when Hikaru isn't aware of the facts."

"Then perhaps we should play on the pairings." Mori said, giving Hunny a look. Kaoru looked at the older boy in puzzlement; what did he mean?

"Of course!" Hunny exclaimed. " Since Hikaru is paired with Haruhi and Kao-chan with Kyo-chan then we'll explain it by making them pairings."

"You mean?" Kaoru asked

"Hikaru and you were together. But then Haruhi and Kyoya came along. Hikaru started to drift away towards Haruhi and Kyoya came in and showed his interest in you. Then Hikaru found out about it and got jealous because you're his and Kyoya is moving in on his territory. And you're distant with Hikaru because you want him happy and you think Haruhi is it for him!"

"Ok but how do we get Hikaru to stick with that story." Koaru said. "And who will tell him" because it surely wasn't him.

"Oh that's not a problem." Kyoya said a little darkly. "I'll take care of it. Don't worry" He added looking at Kaoru. Mori and Hunny looked at each other, the youngest one smiling.

"Hikaru" Haruhi said "What's been going on with you and Kaoru recently. You aren't talking"

"humph! You should ask him that! Mister is no longer sleeping at our house and refuses to tell me where he's at. Says I don't deserve to know anymore. It's ridiculous."

"Why is Kaoru angry at you"

"How should I know"

Haruhi looked at him and stated matter-of-factly. "He's your twin. It's your job to notice what's up with him and why he's upset at you. I doubt Kaoru left you no clue as to what happened."

"I don't know. It started with me hosting with you and him hosting alone. Just because I forgot to tell him I was hosting with you?"

"You didn't tell him? Since he was hosting with Kyoya, I thought you had planned everything out."

"No but it's no reason…wait what? What do you mean hosting with Kyoya."

Haruhi looked at him weirdly. "Kaoru's been hosting with Kyoya ever since the Shakespeare theme hosting day."

"The Shadow King? What is up with Kaoru? He's turned nuts I tell you. First, he's angry over nothing and not he's hosting with the Shadow King instead of with us? Crazy I tell you."

Haruhi shook his head. "Maybe he has a problem with me hosting with you two. Maybe I should start hosting alone again. I don't want to create trouble between you two."

"What? no!" Hikaru said. He didn't want to stop hosting with Haruhi. It was the time where he could be alone with her without Milord tagging along.

"Actually Haruhi, I'm afraid that is not possible." Kyoya said from behind them.

"You! You've been hosting with my brother!" Hikaru said in a somewhat angry voice.

"Yes and I will continue to do so. With Renge's latest survey amongst the girls, it was decided that you started being interested in Haruhi, leaving Kaoru behind and I took this opportunity to move in on him. You then got jealous which explains your recent anger, however you've decided to stay by Haruhi's side and Kaoru believing it made you accepted it and agreed to my proposition to host with him. You will stick to this story and nothing else. Your personal will not interfere with the Club's business or what we'll lose will come out of your pocket."

"That's stupid. Why should my brother have to host with you?" Hikaru sneered. "Just because we're fighting right now doesn't mean he can't host with Haruhi and I"

"I told you; the survey has elected new pairings. Beside, I don't hear Kaoru complaining. Do you?" Kyoya asked before turning away. The older twin's angry face was somewhat satisfying.

"Kaoru. Koaru!" Hikaru screamed down the halls. Kaoru heard him coming and sighed. Another confrontation….

"What is this about you hosting with the Shadow King from now on?"

Kaoru sighed again. Couldn't he have one good day? "It's not like it's any different from what we've been doing recently Hikaru. Besides, you're not talking to me anymore so why should I host with you?"

"I'm not talking to you because you're being ridiculous."

"I'm being ridiculous? Tell me Hikaru, did you know I was hosting with Kyoya before someone told you?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything Hikaru. You didn't know who I was hosting with. You think I didn't notice who you were hosting with? Of course I did. But you, oh no, why would you notice the existence of your own twin? I'm not being ridiculous. You are. You want to have your cake and eat it too. That's not how it works. You want to know where I sleep at night? You know what I would like Hikaru? I would have liked you to notice, to know, I wasn't home before Mom pointed it out, three days later. Remember when we were kids? There wasn't one instant where I didn't notice when you weren't by my side. What happened to us Hikaru? When did I start being THEM instead of US?"

Hikaru drew back in shock. What was Kaoru talking about? Of course he was US!

"Kaoru…"

"You know what forget it! It's useless trying to make you understand, the last week showed me that much. Just continue doing your thing and I'll continue doing mine. And when you finally wake up, come talk to me and we'll see." Kaoru said closing his locker and walking away.

Hikaru stayed behind, shocked. What was going on with his twin?

/***

AN: Hope you've enjoyed even though it's so short! I'll try to fight off the writer's block and write more. Hope it will work! It gets depressing when I can't write :(


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **Is Kyo/Kao canon? No? Than I don't own it.

AN: Hi! I'm not dead! My inspiration was for a long time on all my stories. It's been coming back here and there. Now it's the turn for You and Me to be updated! Hope you like the chapter. Please review because feedback is priceless.

**Chapter 10**

"I'm telling you Haruhi, I don't even recognize him anymore!" Hikaru exclaimed, complaining once again about his brother.

"Maybe you should try to figure out who he is now instead of wanting who he was" Haruhi replied, matter-of-factly. Hikaru gave her a look. That was useless advice.

"I mean, take interest in what he does" she continued.

"Can't you just talk to him?" Hikaru asked, whining. "He'll listen to you. And maybe you can get him to see reason."

Haruhi looked at her friend. There was a hint of desperation mixed with exasperation in his voice. She sighed. "I can try but…"

"Great! Thanks Haruhi! You're the best!" he interrupted. Haruhi simply sighed again.

"Hello Kaoru" Haruhi said sitting down beside her friend.

"Hello Haruhi" Kaoru sighed. "Let me guess. My brother sent you."

She frowned. Hikaru wasn't the only reason she would talk to Kaoru. Surely he knew that….right? "You're my friend too" she began saying.

"I know, but you were awkward just now and you never are when you talk to me because you want to talk to me, which hasn't happened a lot lately. And since I had another confrontation with Hikaru yesterday, I deduced that he sent you to try to 'reason' with me. Am I right?" Her silence was telling.

"Hikaru is my friend. I want to help him but I don't know how. He says he doesn't recognize you anymore. He doesn't know how to talk to you"

"Funny, I don't recognize us either. But it's not ourselves that I don't recognize so much as our relationship. That's what really changed. Beside, he may want to talk to me, but I don't want to talk to him."

Haruhi bit her lip. "Is it…is it because of me?" She had to ask. The problems with the twins had started when Hikaru and she started hosting together. She couldn't help but wonder if Kaoru was blaming her for the distance there now was between his brother and him.

Kaoru shook his head. He couldn't say he had never blamed Haruhi for slowly losing Hikaru, but he didn't anymore because, really, it wasn't her fault at all. Everyone is responsible for their own choices and Haruhi wasn't the one who had started ignoring him. "No. This isn't your fault. You didn't make Hikaru act the way he did towards me. Yes he spends a lot of time with you and yes at the beginning that hurt and I might have blamed you for a while, but that's been over for a long time because it's not your fault at all." Kaoru took a pause and looked at his friend directly in the eyes. "See, the problem isn't that he spends time with you, but the consequences of that. I'm fine with him talking to you and being with you. I spent a lot of time with Hunny. We each have our own friends and that's fine. What isn't fine is that, on the way, I lost Hikaru. He just…he closed his world on the two of you and left me out. But he doesn't get that and it makes things that much worst."

"Have you tried telling him all that?"

Kaoru snorted bitterly. "Yeah I have but he doesn't get it. He doesn't think he did anything wrong. So I rather just not talk to him anymore. If we talk, we'll get in a fight and I really don't want things to get worse."

Haruhi looked at Kaoru sadly. She really didn't know how to help the twins. "Do you want me to talk to him?"

Kaoru shook his head. "No. I don't want you to get involved Haruhi. I won't do that to you. Being stuck between us is not a good idea. If we continue to fight….things will not be pretty and I don't want you to be in a position where you have to choose sides. Just…Just continue being there for Hikaru like you're doing now." Kaoru said. No, involving Haruhi wasn't a good idea. If Hikaru thought Kaoru had swayed Haruhi to his side, who knows what he'd do.

" Ok. But you know Kaoru, if there's anything, you can talk to me."

"I know" he nodded.

"Well….I guess I'll see you at the Host Club this afternoon." Kaoru nodded at Haruhi as she left.

"So you talked to him" Hikaru asked his friend, before Host Club started.

"Yes" Haruhi answered.

"And?"

"And you have to fix things yourselves. I can't do it for you Hikaru. Kaoru has a problem with you, not with me. Besides, he doesn't want me to get involved and I respect that. I shouldn't have agreed to talk to him for you. It's your business."

"But Haruhi!"

"No." She said firmly. "Kaoru told me he tried to tell you what was going on but you didn't listen."

"I listened just fine!"

"Then how come you don't know what Kaoru is angry and sad about?" Hikaru looked at her in surprised. Kaoru was sad?

"Did you even know that he was sad as well as angry?" Hikaru didn't answer his friend but the silence was telling.

"Look, I don't really know what happened. What I do know however is that Kaoru and you need to have a serious talk and for that to happen, you both need to let go of your anger, and be open minded to what the other has to say. Just because you don't see things as Kaoru does, doesn't mean they aren't true. Each person has their own truth because each person views a situation differently. I don't think you're ready to talk to Kaoru at all. You're exasperated, angry and close minded. When you're not, then go talk to Kaoru. Otherwise, you guys are just going to continue fighting and I don't want that to happen. In the meantime, try to remember what Kaoru said during your fights and try to understand his point of view."

Hikaru looked at her in bewilderment. That was the problem! He couldn't understand his brother anymore. This had been useless. He wasn't any closer to making Kaoru see reason.

Kaoru said goodbye to Yuki then went to the Host Club. Apart from the discussion with Haruhi, he had been able to distract himself from thinking about his brother. This was a good day. Or at least a better day.

"Hello Kaoru." Kyoya said, as Kaoru entered the room.

"Ah. Hello Kyoya-sempai. How are you today?"

"Good."

"That's….that's nice" Kaoru blushed. Kyoya gave him a little smile. 'That's nice' Kaoru thought. 'Really? You couldn't find something more intelligent to say? Wait a minute….since when do I care about what I say to Kyoya ?' Kaoru asked himself, surprised at his own thoughts. 'And why do I keep blushing? What's wrong with me?'

It was true. There hadn't been a time when he had done his homework with Kyoya or hosted with him without Kaoru genuinely blushing. Most of the time with Hikaru, he had faked his blushes. But with Kyoya, there really was no need to.

"Ah Mother. There you are!" Tamaki said as he entered the room. "Why is it that little birdies told me you and that devilish twin were hosting together?"

"You mean you didn't know? I've been hosting with 'Mother' since the Shakespeare event. Milord is not the sharpest tool in the box, is he?" Kaoru told Kyoya, in a teasing tone.

"Argh! You wound me, you evil twin!" Tamaki exclaimed dramatically

"Kaoru….remember what I said about your little comments about Tamaki?" Kyoya said, reminding Kaoru that he'd have to host with Milord if he continued like this.

"Oh please no not that!"

"Mother! How nice of you to punish the twin for hurting me so!"

"Nice? Tamaki….my punishment would be hosting with you!"

"Surely you lie! Kyoya that isn't true, is it?"

"I never said **I **considered it punishment."

"What punishment?" Hunny said as he arrived. "Why are we talking about punishments? That's not nice" He said hugging Bun-Bun.

"It's because I said something not nice to Tamaki" The youngest twin answered.

"Be careful Koaru or you'll have to host with Tamaki instead of Kyoya!"

"What? you think that's punishment too?" Tamaki said. He was starting to feel a little sad and rejected.

"Of course not! You can host with Takashi and me anytime!"

"Yeah Tamaki" Kaoru said, feeling he should cheer the other boy up. Sure it was fin having a laugh at Milord's expense but he shouldn't go too far. "It's not that I don't want to host with you…it's just…." Tamaki looked at him expectantly. "It's just…I want to host with Kyoya and hosting with you punishes me by taking away something I like!"

Tamaki looked cheered up at that. Kaoru, however, had seen Kyoya's amused smile and raised eyebrow at his comment and felt himself flushing. Seriously, why couldn't his body stop doing that? It was getting troublesome. But before Kaoru could ask himself any further questions or find possible answers, the girls arrived and the Host Club members went their separate ways.

As usual, Koaru found himself blushing madly during hosting. It didn't help that Kyoya kept pulling him into his lap. According to Renge, the girls were falling over themselves just to see that! Imagine how ecstatic they were when Kyoya was whispering sweet nothing in the younger boy's ear or kissing his cheek. At least Koaru could comfort himself thinking he wasn't the only one flushing in these instances; the girls were all sporting bright red cheeks too.

The hosting went well as usual. Kaoru tried very hard to focus solely on Kyoya and the ladies in order not to think about his brother. Things went well….until the end of the hosting day. Hunny and Mori had a competition that night and had already left. Kaoru was to go to Kyoya's place while the competition was on. The older boy however, had received an important phone call and had temporarily left the room to deal with the problem, leaving Kaoru in the club room. Or so Kaoru thought. That day, Hikaru had decided to simply escort Haruhi to the bus station and then go back to the club. For the first time in what seemed like forever, the twins found themselves completely alone with each other.

"Kaoru" Hikaru said from behind his twin, startling him.

"Hikaru! Don't sneak on people like that!" Koaru had been in deep thoughts and the unexpected interruption had scared him a little. Soon though, the fright disappear and became dread. Kaoru really didn't feel like fighting with his brother today. It had been a good day. Couldn't he have one good day?

"We need to talk!"

"Do we now?" Kaoru asked, keeping his voice as detached and emotionless as possible.

"Yes we do. This can't continue like this. You're being….I don't know what you're being but it needs to stop now!"

"Hikaru…" Kaoru sighed. "I'm not being anything. I'm not being unreasonable or ridiculous or whatever else you believe. There are some serious issues here and you can't even realise it. I told you before, once you finally get a clue, come talk to me. Until then, it's better for the both of us if we stay our separate ways."

"How can you say that? How can you think we're better separate than together? You're my twin. You're us! We never go our separate ways. "

"Funny, because you're the one who started going on his own way. And it's fine. Well no it's not because on the way, I stopped mattering to you."

"What? Of course you matter to me!"

"Really? Then tell me Hikaru, before we started fighting, when was the last time you and I had spent time together?"

"What are you talking about. We were always together."

"No, you were always with Haruhi"

"Is that what this is about? You're jealous!"

"Jealous?" Kaoru asked incredulous. Okay maybe at first he had been. "Maybe at the very beginning, there was some jealousy involved in you spending all your time with Haruhi and forgetting about me but that's been gone a long time ago. I'm not jealous. I'm sad. I'm sad because you ignored me. I wasn't by your side and you didn't notice. I got upset at you and instead of trying to figure out why, you went to 'save' Haruhi from Milord! So no Hikaru, this has nothing to do with Haruhi. It has to do with you and how you've been treating me!"

"Treating you? I haven't been treating you any different than before. You're the one who's all weird."

"Argh!" Kaoru was exasperated. "There really is no talking to you. No matter what, it's exactly like talking to a brick wall. I can talk myself to death, you still wouldn't get it. You don't listen to what I'm saying!"

"I'm listening! You're just not making any sense!"

"He's making perfect sense." A cold voice resonated in the room. "Don't fault Kaoru for your thick head, Hitachiin Hikaru." Kyoya said.

"You! Stay out of this!" Hikaru exclaimed.

"No I will not. I will not stand by and see you upset your brother any further. You are acting like an idiot Hikaru: a stubborn as a mule idiot. If you cannot talk to your brother properly, then I'll politely ask you to refrain from talking to him at all." Kyoya said, glaring at the older twin. "Come Kaoru" Kaoru nodded.

"Come where? Oh no, you're not going with him!" Hikaru exclaimed angrily, grabbing Kaoru's am painfully.

"Hikaru! Let go! You're hurting me!"

"Is that with whom you've been staying? The Shadow King? Are you completely nuts?" Hikaru yanked Kaoru's arm hard.

"Hikaru let go!" Kaoru screamed, trying to get rid of his brother's grip on his arms. He was going to have a bruise.

Suddenly, Hikaru found himself with his arm twisted behind his back. Kyoya had grabbed Hikaru's wrist in a manner that made him lose his grip on Koaru and then had twisted his arm around.

"Touch Koaru like that again, and I promise you, I will do a lot worst to you than this" Kyoya whispered in Hikaru's ear with a deadly tone, making sure to hurt the older twin's arm.

"Let's go Kaoru" Kyoya said turning around. The sight that greeted him made his heart clenched. Kaoru's cheeks were stained with tears. As they were walking towards Kyoya's limo, the older boy felt the need to apologize….which was definitively strange as he never felt the need to apologize for anything.

"I'm sorry if I upset you Kaoru. I just couldn't stand Hikaru hurting you. "

"It's okay sempai. I know you were just protecting me. I'm more upset at Hikaru grabbing me like that. As much as I hate seeing Hikaru in any form of pain, even I have to admit he had it coming this time. Thank you for protecting me." 'and for restraining yourself from doing worst.' Kaoru thought. 'If Hunny had been there to see it…' Kaoru wasn't sure Mori would have been enough to restrain the smaller boy from going Martial Art Champion on Hikaru!

Turns out, he wasn't wrong to think that. When Kyoya had updated Hunny as to what had happened, the older boy had had a deadly look in his eyes. Later on that night, once Kaoru had gone to sleep, Hunny and Mori had a conversation about it.

"Someone has to do something about Hikaru, Takashi, or I'm not sure I'll be able to restrain myself" the smaller boy had told his friend that night. "He's just…so infuriating! What happened to Hika-chan? He wasn't always like that."

"I suppose the blinders love always put are much thicker for him. Give him time."

"We already have! I'm not sure how much longer Kaoru can handle this."

"Kaoru is stronger than you think. He will handle it. I believe it's Hikaru who will be handling the separation badly. It's why he's acting like he is. Now that he noticed that his brother is not by his side anymore, he's upset and is reacting badly."

"What can we do?"

"Nothing, other than supporting Kaoru and perhaps, making sure Hikaru has some support too. It wouldn't do well to ostracise Hikaru. It would made his reactions that much worst"

"But shouldn't someone try and talk to Hikaru?"

"I don't think he's ready to listen. We'll have to wait and see" Hunny nodded at his friend. He didn't like the idea of doing nothing but Takashi always seemed to know what to do to make things better. He trusted the other boy's judgement. For now, Hunny would simply wait and see.

AN : I hope you liked it. If you have any comment, thoughts, opinion share them with me in a review!


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